Concussed
by J.Riddick
Summary: .“I left my phaser in my other pants,” he drawled “so it’s really not my fault.” Kirk/Chapel
1. 1 year: Christine

**AN:** So, I've never written a Star Trek fic before, which means you'll probably find numerous errors all of which I hope you point out. I grew up with Star Wars, not Star Trek so I do my best but this is all solely based on the Movie and anything I come up with as a result of it. Anyways this is unbeta'd and if someone would like to be my beta, and guide me a bit through the trekverse I'd appreciate it!

**Disclaimer: **Based of of JJ's 2009 reimagined Star Trek. Characters aren't mine, I've taken artistic liscence with them. Cheers! Takes place over a year after the film.

I know some people may read this and wonder why the hell such a big deal was made over something not quite so dramatic, but honestly I watch these movies and think that if something liek what I'm about to describe truly did happen, you wouldn't dismiss it with a "I'm okay". I hope you'll agree. Again, this will probably be edited later!

**This is part one of a series I think. It reads like a one-shot, but not quite. ;)**

* * *

They were glaring at each other over Sulu's unconscious body, the only thing separating nurse and captain was the infirmary bed between them.

"He's _fine_" Kirk stressed, blue eyes flinty as he tried to use his height and position as advantage over the young Nurse Chapel, her braided blonde hair and doe eyes giving her the appearance of a young naïve girl. People who knew Christine Chapel, especially Doctor McCoy who swore to God that she was some damn witch (he was bitter that she often put him in his place), knew that she was anything but, and it was a lesson Jim Kirk was discovering for what had to be the 6th time. They tended to butt heads.

Christine put her hands on her hips and leaned further over Sulu's prone body, matching Kirk's glare with one to rival it. "_I_ am the nurse, and it's my _express_," she hissed, trying not to draw more attention than they had already garnered, "medical opinion that he is not fine!" To Kirk's credit he didn't flinch at all when she practically shouted the last word.

Christine watched as Kirk's jaw tightened perceptibly.

"Nurse," oh, there he went with the command voice again. "while it's no concern of yours, I need my pilot to fly this ship through the mine field that separates us between the people we're trying to rescue and where we're currently stationed. So," he was all arrogance, it was practically rolling off of him in waves and Christine wanted to lean over and smack him in the face. "It's unfortunate that he has a nasty bump, and I'll be sure to send him back to your waiting arms when we're clear," he sniped and she bristled, "but right now I need him."

His stare was unwavering ,demanding no room for argument.

Christine clenched her teeth, wondering where the hell McCoy was. He should be dealing with his friend over here while Christine tended to the wounded. If she spent another second looking at the Captain's stupid face, she would probably knock him out just for the sheer pleasure of it.

But she couldn't say no to him. Sulu probably had a concussion,. Maybe even a skull fracture. Christine was more than a little concerned that his brain could be bruised or slowly swelling up. It was the result of hitting one of the mines that Kirk was mentioning, they were made invisible by a magnetic field that none of the senior staff had caught until the first one exploded right in front of the deck, knocking nearly everyone to the ground. A few of the deck crew had received injuries, but Sulu had slammed his head on his workstation , immediately knocking himself unconscious and leaving an unsightly mess.

She could wake him, he would be disoriented, and Christine highly doubted he would be able to fly through a minefield, no matter his talent. And he was drooling, she thought as she looked down to the Asian man, laying completely still, mouth open, and legs sprawled. It was an entirely dignified position. She kind of wanted to take a picture.

Christine took a deep breath and looked back to Kirk, who was unwavering as ever. "Captain," she started, knowing that she couldn't continue to argue with him, so she would try to reason. " the Helmsman could be suffering from a fractured skull, a concussion at the very least. Even if I were to let him go with you he would hardly be in any condition to fly," she bit into her lip, slowly losing her will to fight with the captain. "Jim," she said more softly, and watched as his mouth twitched, "why are you pushing this? If it was just a scrape then fine, but he's clearly not capable of navigating through a minefield."

Christine didn't understand it, the people they had been hailed to rescue must be of some importance to the Captain or else Christine couldn't imagine why she'd demand that a badly injured Sulu guide the ship through mines. Hell, he'd probably pilot them into one. It wasn't like the Captain to demand so much, especially when he had to know it just simple wasn't feasible.

She watched as he waged a war with himself, before his shoulders relaxed and he braced his hands on the infirmary bed, leaning in, head down for a moment. Christine waited patiently before he looked back up to her.

"Damnit you're right," he sighed and caught her eyes, a small smirk gracing his features. Christine smiled back more hesitantly, still unsure what was going on. Her blood was still pumping from nearly leaping over the bed and clawing at him, so the abrupt change had her feeling a little off kilter. She waited for an explanation he gave none. True, they weren't very close, Christine who had become better friends with Bones, had begun to see more and more of Kirk and the Senior officers. She and Kirk were on fairly good terms, but both were a bit….decided in their opinions, and often clashed with one another.

Kirk opened his mouth, maybe to give some sort of explanation but was interrupted when Sulu cleared his throat, voice slightly raspy. "No, I can do it." Both Christine and Jim snapped their heads in Sulu's direction, taking the Asian man in as he tried to sit up.

Immediately Christine set her hands on his shoulders and eased him back down onto the bed. "Easy," she said softly, turning away from the men to get her scanner. He lifted one of his hands, which wavered slightly as if he was unable to control it. "I can do it," he repeated, and Christine arched a brow at him, entirely unconvinced, and not at all liking the smile on Kirk's face as he patted his pilot on the arm.

"No," Christine asserted before Kirk could open his mouth, and the Captain glared at her again, and no she did not imagine the slight pout of his mouth. Such a child. "I don't care, you're staying here," she ordered, hands now on her hips and staring at both men angrily. Sulu's hand and expression was frozen as he stared back. "Uh, okay, right," he coughed and the hand went back down . "That's what I meant," he muttered, and Kirk let out an annoyed sigh.

"Fine," he said finally, letting the word out as if it honestly pained him. "But," and he pointed a finger in her face, "if we explode I entirely blame you Nurse," she gave a sigh of exasperation and rolled her eyes. "Well it's not like you'll be able to throw it in my face in the afterlife," she retorted and turned back to Sulu, gingerly touching his head to feel out the bump. Sulu winced.

She thought Kirk had left but she heard his voice from over her shoulder, "and why not?"

Christine snorted, "because I, unlike you, wont' be burning in hell," she said sweetly. There was a silence before she heard Kirk's laugh, deep and honestly amused, the sound getting further away as he left the medical bay.

The small smile that tugged at her mouth was only seen by Sulu, who despite his head injury, was staring at her with a knowing look.

She refused to acknowledge it and instead went back to her scanner, hovering it carefully over the goose egg on Sulu's hairline. "No fracture, just a concussion," she reasoned, glad Kirk wasn't here to probably declare it not serious at all and whisk Sulu away. It didn't surprise her, she'd seen Kirk bruised, bloody, and practically heaving with a collapsed lung, ordering people around in full battle mode. Idiot.

"Great so I can go fl-"

"No."

"Right, that's what I meant."

* * *

The second time she saw Kirk that day _he_ was the unconscious one, blood pouring from a wound over his right eye, his wrist which was twisted at an odd angle , was hanging limply beside him as he, Commander Spock, and Bones, materialized on the transporter pads.

It was 8 hours since her confrontation with Kirk. Sulu had stayed in the infirmary for a further 4 hours before returning back to the bridge, pumped full of muscle relaxants and sporting what looked like a third eye at the center of his forehead. Christine wasn't sure who Kirk had gotten as his replacement but they had navigated through the mine field easily, and within the hour Kirk had put the crew on alert as he and a team prepared to board the other craft to rescue children.

That's what it had been, children.

The ship in question had been a smuggling ship, carrying what Christine could only assume to be over 20 children, all kidnapped or orphaned in a smuggler's bid to gain money whether by ransom or by selling them.

Christine understood why Kirk had been so insistent. They were children for God's sake.

Bones had breezed into the medical bay with a severe expression on his face barking to the other staff to be prepared, the children were of different species, backgrounds, and lord only knew what their health was. Christine had felt sick with the knowledge.

"Sick bastards," Bones had uttered as he stood next to Christine, as his head nurse they were in charge of the majority of the team, and while she knew what was coming she couldn't help but feel a little weak. There were no children aboard this ship so Christine hadn't had to deal with the prospect of injured kids until today.

Christine had sighed and clenched her fist. "Do you know what happened? How could someone just take—" she broke off and looked away, met with a short burst of silence as McCoy gloomily stared forward. "Damn if I know, I'm—" Bones was interrupted as Ensign Chekov's voice filled the speakers calling both she and Bones to the transporter immediately for retrieval of patients.

In waves the children were being transferred to the ship, Christine counted 19 before the transporting apparently stopped. The team spent the next 30 minutes forming a triage of sorts, looking at all the kids, some not even 4 years old. As Christine put salve on the bruises around one particular girls' neck, she couldn't help the flood of emotion that went through her as the little girl just stared back at her blankly, as if she wasn't really part of this world It broke Christine's heart, and with a watery smile she guided the little girl to one of the other nurses before turning to the next kid, a taller boy, who looked more malnourished than injured if anything.

"Hi," she said softly, smiling slightly as if it in some way could comfort the boy. He wasn't as despondent as the girl, there was real anger in his eyes, and despite his frailty she could see the tenseness in his shoulders, speaking of a great deal of pain to come. Biting into her lip she placed a hand on the boy's cheek, his bluish skin pulled tight over his cheek bones, his face gaunt.

"It's going to be okay," she said after a moment, swallowing as the boy looked away from her, closing his eyes as if shutting her out. She reached for him again but flinched when she was suddenly called, Chekov's voice urgent as he called her back to the transporter with a gurney

Confused, she left the boy in the care of another nurse, sick with the dread that perhaps there were more children.

But as she arrived just in time to see Commander Spock materialize, she stopped, confused. Sensing her presence Spock lifted his head to meet her, face emotionless as ever, but she could see the tightness in his mouth, and body, something different from his regular rigidity.

And suddenly in a flash, Bones appeared on one of the pads, an unconscious and heavily bleeding Kirk in his hands.

Christine didn't bother to stifle the gasp as she strode forward instinctively, the weight of Kirk apparently too much as Bones grunted, Spock immediately coming to his side again, both men carrying the Captain by his shoulders.

"Nurse," Bones shouted, and she snapped to attention , wheeling the bed she'd brought with her to them. Spock and Bones heaved Kirk over the frame, Spock waited only a moment to see that Bones had the situation under control before sidestepping around Christine, with a curt "excuse me," no doubt to take his place as acting captain and deal with the other ship.

"Doctor," Christine heard herself say, sounding at a loss as she took one of the sides, Bones already wheeling his friend out of the room and down the hall.

"Not now nurse," he gritted out, and Christine shut her mouth, her attention immediately dropping to Kirk. While the head wound was bad (head wounds bled too much), Christine could tell that the cut wasn't so deep. The broken wrist also didn't seem so severe, so Christine wondered why the air felt so heavy.

"He's bleeding internally," Bones suddenly said, and Christine snapped her head up to meet his dark eyes. "Damn fool wanted to play hero," Bones scoffed, and Christine, for whatever reason was reassured that Bones was chastising his friend at all. "Went in guns a blazing, except with no damn gun. Jackass" he was muttering now as they pulled up to their own emergency room, a few nurses waiting to assist with the surgery. "Hobgoblin must have some wicked sixth sense," he continued, "marched right in there- _GET ME AN INTRAVENOUS NOW_! Useless damn…"Bones trailed off as Christine prepared herself to assist, her eyes never leaving Kirk's prone for a second. And to think only earlier he had been leaning over Sulu's bed, blue eyes furious, his face a foot from her own.

"…if he wants to play hero he can tie a goddamn bed sheet around his neck. Laser scalpel," he ordered gruffly, and the surgery began.

* * *

"How is he?" Lieutenant Uhura asked as she slid in to the seat beside Christine, who was finishing up the chart work from one of the engineers who had accidentally sliced their own finger off. ("Cannae even flip me off" Scotty had laughed, delighted when he'd brought the pissed off engineer into the medical bay. The missing finger was in fact the engineer's middle one.)

For a moment Christine actually thought Uhura was asking about the engineer. She gave the communications officer an incredulous look.

"Kirk," Uhura said simply, drawing the name out and giving Christine a deadpan amused smile. "Geez, how long have you been here, you look terrible," Uhura picked up the end of Christine's ponytail, taking in the messiness of it all.

"Oh," Christine chuckled and rubbed at her eyes, she'd been on shift for the past 48 hours, only leaving once to shower when Bones told her she looked 'damn awful.' Charming really. "Hey, hands off," she whined halfheartedly, and Uhura dropped the blond strands, giving her an amused look.

"He's much better," she continued, heaving a sigh and turning around from her workbench to see Kirk, sleeping soundly on the bed. The surgery went fine, his wrist had been repaired and the cut above his eye cleaned. He'd been in an out of it for the last two days, ironically he'd received a concussion.

Uhura smiled back, and squeezed Christine's wrist, "Good," she said, before leaning forward, her forearms resting on the table as she watched Christine work. "He's still a mouth breathing idiot," Uhura continued, meeting Christine's eye with exasperated amusement, "but…" Christine watched as Uhura sighed heavily. The whole situation with the children had shaken almost everyone, and while Uhura never said it Christine knew that she worried about Spock who had gone to retrieve Kirk, the Vulcan of all people feeling as though something was wrong. He'd been completely right, James had nearly died, and would have died if Spock hadn't gotten there when he did.

While Christine rarely spoke to Spock, she thought he only really acknowledged her because she'd grown close to Nyota, she couldn't help the gratitude she felt for the Vulcan. He'd saved the Captain's life, and hadn't even said a word about it.

"But," Christine snapped her attention back to Uhura who smiled again. "He's a good man," she let out a short laugh, "never thought I'd be saying those words." Christine shared a look and the two girls smirked. While Uhura more often than not was nearly overcome by the urge to kill her Captain, Christine knew that the woman had grown to respect him, knew that he'd become something more than however she knew him as. Uhura could deny it all she wanted but Christine knew that the other woman considered James a good friend.

"I better get back," Uhura gave Christine's wrist another squeeze, winking before she slid off the bench, smoothing down her skirt.

"Oh please, flash those long legs in front of me," Christine gave a pointed glare at Uhura who feigned innocence, and flipped her long hair over her shoulder. "Legs? These?" Uhura flexed a calf, and the girls chuckled together before Uhura turned to leave. "Enjoy that snoring!" the taller woman called back, and Christine snorted. It was true, James T Kirk was a snorer.

Christine sighed , beginning to rap her nails against the vid screen she had in her hand, suddenly glum despite Uhura's little chat. Christine had no idea why the Captain's injury was affecting her as much as it had. She hated seeing anyone injured of course, but perhaps it was guilt for that morning before all of this happened, though Christine really had nothing to feel guilty about. "You are an idiot" she told herself lowly in singsong, before giving a disgusted noise and tossing the vidscreen onto the workbench with a clatter.

Too brash, too arrogant, too young, people judged him all the time. She was no different. She wasn't even remotely surprised that he'd practically killed himself for those kids, that was the type of person he was.

So why? What the hell was the matter with her?

"Hear that?" came a raspy voice, and Christine whirled around in her seat, her shins hitting the bench supports as she stared in surprise at Kirk's bed. "I'm a good guy," he continued and managed a smile, his blue eyes bright as he watched her.

The relieved smile that filled her face was probably a little ridiculous, but Christine paid it no mind as she stumbled over to his bed, immediately going to check his vitals on the biofunction monitor behind him. "Well welcome back!" she grinned, hand resting on his arm as she turned away from the report screen, eyes raking him over, taking in the steady rise and fall of his chest, and the bruises that were beginning to heal. "How do you feel?"

Kirk winced as he tried to shift a little, movement obviously would pain him greatly. "Couldn't be better," he turned his eyes back to her, blinking at the brightness of the lights. "You look like shit," he pointed out, and Christine's smile slowly fell, a blush rising to her cheeks.

"Thank you Captain," she drawled, embarrassed, but not at all hurt. She pulled up a seat next to his bed so that she was more on par with him, her fingers going up to toy with her hair, really wishing that she had taken Bones' advice and cleaned herself up.

They stared at one another for a moment, Kirk seemingly studying her, before she blinked and look away, clearing her throat. "Bones," she started a little lower, in case he was anywhere nearby, "seems to think that you're better off tying a sheet around your neck than going onto a ship unarmed if you want to play hero," her voice was amused as she looked back up at him, just in time to see him roll his eyes.

"He would, probably hope the sheet gets caught on something so I hang myself," he coughed, hand resting on his ribs as he did to withhold some of the pain. 'And," he continued, tone of voice argumentative, "I left my phaser in my other pants," he sniffed "so it's really not my fault."

Christine arched a brow but sighed, letting him off with it. "Well maybe you should think about checking your pants before you run off into battle," she tapped at the previously broken hand, grinning softly. "Though ," she bit into her lip, "Scotty and I have a bet going that you did it all on purpose," she watched Kirk raised a brow, obviously interested. "So that your secret lover Commander Spock could come and save you," she stifled a laugh at the horrified expression on the Captain's face, unable to even comprehend what she just suggested.

"_Spock_?," he protested, completely floored and disgusted, his voice breaking from disuse which made Christine laugh harder. "Okay," he pointed a finger at her, "you and Scotty are cut off, no more seeing each other," he reasoned, unimpressed completely, and Christine couldn't help but fall a little bit in love with the way his nose crinkled, his poor mind obviously filled with less than healthy images. She wondered if she could get Scotty to try the same thing with Spock.

"I don't know," she continued, voice low so as not to disturb the other patients, "he's so tall, and with all that bottled up emotion underneath that pointy-eared appearance," she licked her lips, sighing almost mournfully, "I think he'd be good in bed. We should ask Uhura." She laughed again when Jim grimaced, shaking his head again before giving her a brief smirk. "I had no idea you considered the sexual prowess of my crew in such detail," the smirk grew larger as Christine eyed him warily. "Wonder what you think of me?" And there it was.

It was Christine's turn to roll her eyes and she sat up straighter in her chair. "Anyway," she changed subject, not at all enjoying the amused glint in those blue eyes. "I should go tell Bones you're awake, the crew has been really worried about you," she went to stand from her chair, hand braced on the bed. She was stopped when Kirk rest his hand on hers, forcing her to look at him, his blue eyes suddenly serious.

"How are the kids?" he asked, as she caught the set in his jaw.

Christine sighed, and sat down again, for one reason or another she didn't move her hand from where Kirk held it. "We dropped them off at Federation Headquarters yesterday," she felt his eyes on her, and she looked up, a reassuring smile on her face. "They'll be fine, well," she sighed, "physically that is. I can't imagine the amount of emotional damage they've suffered, we don't even know how long they've been aboard that ship," Christine began to toy with his hand, her fingers locking with his as he continued to stare at her.

"Spock brought the smugglers to the fleet to be dealt with," she tightened her grasp. "They'll be given the proper punishment, you can make sure of that." She watched as he finally looked away, staring at the ceiling, obviously deep in thought.

'Jim," she said softly, repeating his name again more imploringly. "You saved them," she smiled at him, and instead of flinching, she merely grasped tighter when her looped his fingers through her own, bringing her whole arm over as he rested both of their hands on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat there.

He looked like he was struggling with something, and Christine got the impression that it was a struggle to tell her what he had seen. She wouldn't force it out of him, despite his bravado and arrogance, he was obviously still upset by what had happened (as anyone should be). She'd gotten most of what had happened from the few security and engineer crew who had gone with him, bits and pieces of how the man and his smugglers had been waiting for them, immediately engaging Kirk in battle while the rest of them got to the children. All she could get out of Bones was him coming upon Spock trying to support Jim on his own, the Vulcan covered in his Captain's blood. Thinking back, Christine wondered why she hadn't seen the blood on him before.

"Stay," he said after a few moments, shocking Christine out of her thoughts and surprising her completely with his request.

Christine swallowed hard. "What?' she asked, looking around to see if anyone else had heard that. Was he insane? It wasn't like they were best friends or lovers or anything. The most she'd spoken to him without another person's interruption had been that morning of their argument two days ago.

She was sure none of this mattered to him because he smiled and tugged at her hand again, causing Christine to give him a pointed glare. "Stay with me just for a little while," he repeated, looking devastating with those blue eyes and the……gah.

Damnit.

"You can even share my bed here," he continued, his voice tired, but the tone implying nothing but mischief. Christine flushed violently and shook her head. "No, I've got to go sleep, get cleaned up," she grew flustered when he wouldn't' stop pulling at her hand. "You're the one that said I looked like shit!" she exclaimed, and was rewarded with a bemused look.

"You're gorgeous, _and_ you can sleep here. "

Christine did her best not to flush, and instead, summoning all of her courage rolled her shoulders back and gave him a hard look. "No, you need to rest, and I," she bit into her lip as she tugged at her hand hard, barely stumbling when he let go, "need to go find Doctor McCoy, excuse me."

"Oh come on," she heard him exclaim, and she could just imagine the look on his face, all exasperation and disbelief. "I'm a sick man in need of some comfort Nurse!" she kept walking, struggling to keep the smile off of her face. "Don't turn your back on your Captain," he continued but Christine paid him no heed, disappearing through the infirmary door, the smile now fully on display.

"Women." he muttered, and sulked.

* * *

**Read and Review!**


	2. 1 year: Kirk

**A/N:** Oookay so here's chapter too, I'm a bit overwhelmed by the response, I wasn't actually expecting any! This is still a work in progress, now that it's not a one-shot any longer and will instead be a multi-chapter fic, I'm going to do some editing. Chapter One will be edited a lot, to put more detail into it. As for characterizations, I'm still trying to get the hang on everyone, so please bear with me. I'm not totally on with Kirk, but I'm feeling him out (how I wish that were literal) and Christine is still being developed.

Anyways, enough rambling. While I love how many people added this story, I'd love it if you also reviewed when you did, I want to hear what you all think. If it seems like nothing is going on that's because I don't want this whole impending relationship to be so cliche. He's barely taken any notice to her ever, and she's pretty dismissive of him. It's fun. Once again, unbeta'd.

**Disclaimer:** Based of of JJ's 2009 reimagined Star Trek. Characters aren't mine, I've taken artistic liscence with them. Cheers! Takes place over a year after the film

**This chapter involves mostly Kirk's perspective of the previous chapter.**

(I'm having some formatting issues aka FFnet is eating some of my words, so if there's something missing I apologize)

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"Fiesty," Jim Kirk chuckled as he left the medical bay, Nurse Chapel's words still ringing in his ears as he veered around the corner back towards the bridge , a slight urgency in his steps despite his relatively good mood. When he brought Sulu in, the poor Asian man practically hanging off of Kirk's shoulder, he had expected to see Bones, who Jim knew he could bully into clearing the Helmsman for active duty. Of course there would be a vast collection of "damnit Jim" but Kirk was impervious to Bones' gruff attitude by now.

Instead, Christine Chapel's blond head appeared from behind another patients bedside, big blue eyes surprised to see the Captain. Immediately, however, her eyes had narrowed after taking in Sulu's unconscious form and he couldn't' help but smirk as she shifted into Nurse-mode.

'What happened?" she demanded, though with concern as she helped Jim get Sulu onto an empty bed, surprising Jim that her smaller frame could heave the man onto the bed.

"Oooh ouch," Kirk winced and chuckled when Sulu's head hit the metal frame of the bed as the two of them settled him, doing their best to fold the man's legs onto the thin bed. Judging by the unimpressed look she gave the Captain as she hooked Sulu up to the biomonitor, Christine didn't find it quite so funny. Kirk cleared his throat and nodded to the helmsman.

"We hit a few mines, here got the worst of it," he watched as Christine bit into her lip, her focus on the large gooseegg on Sulu's forehead. Jim watched as her fingers skated over the wound with as much care as physically possible. She had small hands, but long fingers, very white and nearly transparent from all the bright fluorescents in the room. As he watched her check over his Helmsman Jim couldn't help but move his gaze from her fingers to her wrists, then to the small smattering of freckles that dotted her forearm, and then upwards to where her arm disappeared into her shirtsleeve, a uniform, that Kirk thought very nicely tugged and tightened at just the right places.

His smirk was present, eyebrow arched and blue eyes trained on her rear when Christine turned back to him, catching him in the act. "Well thank you for bringing him in…Captain" she trailed off and once again he was on the receiving end of a glare, as Christine cross her arms over her chest. It took a bit of willpower but Jim kept his eyes on her face, and not on her breasts, a look of innocence on his face.

"Not a problem, now if you could work your magic and clear him for duty," he clapped his hands together, "I'd appreciate it."

Her eyebrows disappeared into her blonde bangs.

"Sorry to disappoint you Captain but I won't be doing that," she stared at him expectantly, and Jim realized that she was actually preparing for a fight. It caught him off guard a moment, especially since they barely knew one another; she had only slowly started to become a regular fixture at the cafeteria table, when Bones started bringing her.

He let out a short laugh, good humour starting to wane. "Okay, not sure why that is, because _clearly_ the man is fine," he gestured to Sulu who was in fact drooling onto his pillow. "Or," he amended when Nurse Chapel followed his gaze to Sulu, "he will be when you drug him with whatever it is that you fine ladies stab unsuspecting men with." She stared back at him, unblinkingly, and Kirk exhaled a sigh sharply. Not quite sure why this was becoming an issue. He never had problems (except with Uhura) when asking for something. The whole Captain thing usually spoke for itself.

" Look I need him, so do your mojo and let's go," his tone was slower, almost in a warning and his jaw ticked.

He knew he was in trouble when her hands slid to her hips.

And now he was making his way back to the bridge having paged for a replacement Helmsman, about 100 mines standing in their way to rescue a ship, and Kirk couldn't help but feel a little bruised. He hadn't really believed Bones when his friend had come onto the bridge, swearing, one day, because his Head Nurse had told him to get the hell away from a female patient who had expressed discomfort at being seen to by a man. Kirk had only seen the young nurse a few times at that point, and could remember thinking that Bones had been exaggerating, probably just sweet on the little thing.

"Can't manage your women?" he had said, clapping Bones on the back as he'd made his way to his chair, Chekov practically bouncing out of his seat to get the Captain's attention about something. "Sounds like she needs to be shown whose boss," he'd winked at his quickly reddening friend, merely laughing when Bones grumbled about something and stormed off.

When Bones had started to bring her to their table in the cafeteria, Kirk was surprised to see that nearly everyone already knew her. It was like waking up to realize you had missed out on a party that you, as Prom King, should have been invited to. She and Scotty seemed to be the most at ease with one another, which Kirk found to be because Scotty's engineers were apparently incompetent in regards to their own safety. Uhura had warmed up to the younger girl simply in a 'we women have to stick together' type of thing, that Kirk had rolled his eyes at. Sulu and Chekov, who hadn't been there, only knew her in passing, but were friendly enough.

She was least familiar with Spock, which didn't surprise Kirk in the least. The Vulcan man had sat there stonily, as he always did, the first to make the excuse to get back to his post. He wondered if the young Nurse took it personally, but she hadn't even seem fazed, more intrigued as she watched he and Uhura leave that first lunch period.

"He can't help it," he had piped up, amused smile and blue eyes trained on the girl who had turned, slightly surprised to be addressed by him directly. "He has a condition, what did you call it Bones?" he turned to his friend who was staring, disgusted at the 'soup' in front of him.

"Compulsive Assholery" Bones had announced, not missing a beat, and Kirk was rewarded by a snort from the young nurse that quickly turned into amused chuckles.

She was alright, she laughed at the right jokes, didn't seem too ill at ease with anything really. And aside from her obvious good looks (which Kirk would classify as 'cute' more than anything) Kirk hadn't really thought about her much then she went and put him in his place today, and he was intrigued. More than a little pissed off since she had been so difficult, but intrigued. He had underestimated her.

" won't be joining us," he said as he swept into the bridge, only surprising one of the communications officers, the rest, were used to his abrupt appearances. It was kind of disappointing, because Jim enjoyed getting a reaction out of people, and it just wasn't satisfying when they either glared or looked expectantly at you as Uhura and Chekhov were doing alternately.

He paused only a moment, taking everyone in, including the replacement Helmsman, Monroe, who looked a little bored. Oh good.

"Captain, we have received additional communication transmissions from the ship in question that Lieutenant Uhura has translated," came Spock's voice, his first officer now standing just behind Jim, his voice demanding full attention. "It appears that those onboard are children sir." Kirk spun around, surprised blue eyes taking in the composed expression of Commander Spock, who was staring back at him steadily.

"Lieutenant?" Kirk said after a moment, turning to face Uhura who looked grim. "Yes Captain, this is true, I translated one voice in particular, but I can identify a few more in various dialects," she opened her mouth to continue but Spock beat her to it.

"The greatest likelihood is that we are in the presence of--" Spock stopped, looking away for only a moment before simplifying his language as if it pained him, "smugglers."

Kirk turned back away from him slowly, his eyes going to the mine field ahead of them that stood in their way between lord only knew how many children, who were being trafficked. How the children had gotten to contact them, he was unsure of, and that in itself was troubling.

"I heard sounds of a struggle Captain," came Uhura's voice again, "somehow the children managed to break free, but I have no idea how many smugglers are on board."

"Well then we'll just have to hurry," Kirk wasn't smiling now, his face was passive, shoulders tense as he nodded to the helmsman. "I trust you understand the importance of the situation ," the man nodded, seemingly infinitely more interested now that children were at stake.

"Good" Jim had continued, and stared hard at the screen, "then I suggest you don't blow us up either. We've got children to save."

* * *

"Captain I have to express my concern that this could be a trap," Spock watched as Kirk looked around his room for his phaser and holster, back faced to his first officer as he threw clothing onto the floor.

Spock sidestepped being hit by a pair of dark boxers, and showed only a momentary grimace on his face before he became impassive again, waiting for the Captain to acknowledge him.

"Aww Spock," Kirk's voice sounded muffled, and he stood, face slightly red from being hunched over, and blue eyes searching the room ravenously. "It's always a trap," he took another glance around the room before giving up. "While your concern is touching," he smirked, and Spock narrowed his eyes at him, "I'll be fine. And you're more than capable of running this ship," he brushed past Spock, slapping him on the back as he did.

The Vulcan inhaled sharply through his nose to steady his emotions before following the Captain out of his quarters, his long legs bringing him to Kirk's side swiftly. "Affirmative," Kirk glanced up to give the Vulcan a deadpan stare , knowing that Spock still thought that Kirk was too impulsive sometimes to make the proper decisions. "I can see that any attempts made to make you see reason will only be ignored," and Kirk dipped his head, amused.

'Affirmative," he drawled, and stopped at the entrance to the transporter room. "Hey you got a gun?" he interrupted before Spock could lecture him on anything further, satisfied when the Vulcan looked down for a moment before fixing his dark eyes back on Kirk's blue. "Unfortunately I am without a weapon, sir, "he folded his hands behind his back, "perhaps if you wait only a moment I could retrieve yours, which, "the corn of Spock's mouth curled , " I saw tucked in the pocket of your denim pants." Kirk opened his mouth, dubious, before snapping his fingers.

"That's where it is!" he exclaimed, sucking on his lip for a moment before patting the taller man on the shoulder. "Nah, I'll just borrow one off of one of the security officers." He began to back towards the transporter room, where the other members of the team assembled to board the smuggling ship were waiting. "Keep an eye on me Spock, and don't do anything I wouldn't' do," he winked, sparing the Vulcan a smile before turning away from the First Officer who stood in place for a moment, eyebrows arched (as much as they could be).

"I don't believe that will be a problem, Captain," he said to no one at all, before turning on his heel and making his way back to the bridge.

"So what do we got, everyone here?" Kirk questioned as made his way into the transporter room, eyes taking in the security team already in place on the pads, all waiting expectantly. He seemed to be the last one there.

"Guess so," Kirk moved over to Scotty who was leaning back in his chair, chatting to no one and everyone in particular.

"Scotty, we all set?" he asked, eyes urging the man to focus.

"Aye, you're all set," Scotty tapped the communicator attached to his ear. "Should be transporting you into storage but," he amended before the Captain could point out what Scotty assumed never seemed to be what actually happened, "I make no promises," he looked sheepish, and Kirk merely nodded.

"Alright, then we should be back with the kids in 30," both of their smiles were slightly muted, because it had been a few hours since they'd first received the distress call, and there was no predicting exactly what the situation was on the other ship.

"Oh," Kirk turned back to the Scot whose fingers were poised over the controls. "You got a gun?" he patted the empty holster, "mine's in my room."

Scotty merely shrugged, "Cannae say I do, I've got a wrench if you're feelin' a little puckish," he reached into his back pocket where in fact there was a wrench. "Get'im' right between the eyes," Scotty waved the wrench, eyes bright, "hurts like a kick in the face, I promise you."

Jim patted the frame of the entranceway and shook his head. "Think I'll pass Scotty, thanks," the other man just shrugged and saluted sloppily, attention back on the controls. Jim whistled when he turned around, shaking his head at the Scotsman before taking his position on the pad.

There really wasn't a good reason for Kirk himself to go, but it was no news to the crew of the USS Enterprise that their Captain liked to be in the thick of things, and he was only just starting to get used to the fact that he couldn't' always be the hero. He accepted that, he really did, but there was something about being faced with smuggled children that made Kirk refuse the requests of his crew to just stay in his damn chair.

They also couldn't deny that he was a brawler, though no one was quite sure if he was in fact a good one, since he always seemed to turn up bloodied or unconscious after a fight. And this mission didn't seem to difficult, they got a reading on a total of 24 life forms, 5 of which were adults. It would be a piece of cake.

"Hey cupcake," Kirk turned to the head of security, who tightened his jaw and glared at the Captain with obvious disdain. Kirk merely smiled back. "You have a spare phaser?" that seemed to catch the bald man off guard, and he stared at Jim incredulously.

"You're transporting without a weapon Captain?"

Jim shook his head. "Not if you give me one,"

But before anyone could say anything else Scotty had transported the group to the other ship. And Kirk was without a gun.

* * *

Things hadn't gone well the second the team had materialized on board. It seemed the smuggler's weren't exactly stupid people, and after the USS Enterprise had disabled their weaponry and their ability to hyperdrive, the criminals had waited for the Starfleet officers to appear. And unfortunately for Starfleet that just so happened to be in the back of the ship, where they were cornered.

Before Kirk could even look around he was hit in the face with the butt of a gun, shouting as he doubled over in pain .Almost immediately the hull erupted in gun fire, the Starfleet security team outnumbering the smuggler's easily, and pushing them back and out into the open. Unfortunately this left the Captain behind, who began to fight.

"Get the kids!" he shouted, blood pouring from the wound over his eye as he punched one of the men in the face, a sickening crunch sounding as the man spun into stacked cargo, knocking himself to the ground.

Kirk hissed when a phaser shot burned past his arm, and he took the man's gun, rage behind his eyes and knocked him out with it.

"Son of a bitch," he heaved a breath, and began forward to where the rest of his team were locating the children.

It was then that a smuggler he hadn't seen took Kirk by his neck and slammed his face onto the corner of a metal box.

"Fuck," he groaned, as he slid onto his knees, stars erupting behind his eyes as he attempted to right himself again. Instead he was careened forward onto the deck as the man kicked him swiftly in the stomach, knocking Jim's breath away as the bloodied Captain tried to grab at the man's boot, succeeding only for a moment. The man instead stepped down onto Kirk's hands and used his weight as leverage to lift his other foot and kick Kirk squarely in the face, causing Jim to drop his hold on the man, consciousness failing him.

All Kirk could see was more blood as the man struck his again, this time on his back. The metal grating of the floor was cool on Kirk's face, and he gripped it hard in his fingers as he tried to slide out of the smuggler's range, getting clipped just slightly in the ribs. "Oh Christ," Jim wheezed, coughing up blood which he spat out expertly.

The smuggler was breathing hard, the adrenaline and desperation causing the man to give it his all, no doubt realizing that there was no way he could get away from a Federation ship. Kirk just so happened to be his punching bag. It was sloppy of the Captain to get himself into this position in the first place, and of course, this is what he got when he didn't bring his own damn gun. He had no idea where his security was, though he couldn't' fault them for putting the children first. And this way, he was providing some sort of distraction.

In reality, as Jim took another punch to the face, he couldn't believe he was getting his ass kicked by one man, when he could easily take on 3 and actually win.

As always Jim took the punches and kicks patiently, waiting for an opening and letting his body suffer for it. Steeling himself for another well placed kick, Jim saw the man hesitate, lifting his leg higher to perhaps give one last crushing blow, and Kirk took this opening and pulled the man's legs out from under him, satisfied when the man hit the metal floor with a thud. Scrambling away Kirk reached for the phaser that had dropped from one of the smuggler's hands.

"You get what you deserve asshole," he rasped, realizing that the blood was now going down the back of his throat, and for some reason or another his chest felt constricted, protesting as loudly as his ribs were. The shot hit its mark and the man on the ground stopped moving. Kirk waited only a moment, grimacing through the pain as he attempted to stand up. He could hear shouts from the other end of the small ship, and hoped to god that meant that they'd found the kids and were transporting out of there.

He took only a few steps before his vision began to blur, and it only took a few seconds before he was face first on the deck, landing awkwardly on his wrist which twisted with a snap. Blood pooled around his head, dripping off of the grating and into the ship as Kirk lost consciousness.

He had no idea how long it was before he was awake again, but he was being moved somewhat roughly, the person not really paying attention to his injuries as they tried to get him up off of the floor. Blearily Kirk recognized that he was still on the smuggling ship, and blood was still dripping down his face, some of it already caking to his skin.

He grunted when was flipped over, his back coming to rest against the other person's chest.

"Captain," came a voice that Jim distantly recognized as Spock's. "You are critically injured, and are suffering from blood loss, " he paused, and Jim heard the Vulcan give a short exhale of breath before hauling the both of them upwards, Kirk letting out a cry of pain as his wrist, which he only now saw was broken, twisted against his side.

"Tell me," he wheezed, blood lining the inside of his lips, "something I don't know." He groaned as Spock adjusted his hold on him.

"Dr. McCoy will be here momentarily" was the Vulcan's only response, but Jim felt Spock's hold tighten around him, and Jim wished he could express some sort of gratitude.

"Jesus Christ," came the almost reverent hiss of Bones as he apparently was transported. Jim could guess that they didn't want to transport him to the ship until they could see his injuries stabilize, and immediately Bones was in front of him.

"God Damnit Jim," Bones prodded along Kirk's ribs, ignoring any gasps of pain, but he was paying full attention to the wheezing, and Jim merely submitted to it all, already beginning to feel dizzy again.

"Forgot my gun," he sighed, and slumped against the Vulcan, the last thing he heard was Bones cursing his name again as he pushed against Jim's stomach and was met with hardening blood instead of soft tissue.

* * *

4 days after the surgery, and two days after he had woken up without passing out after the first 6 minutes, Kirk was cleared to leave the med bay, a fact he could not be more grateful for because Bones was severely pissing him off.

"Without a gun!" Bones would exclaim, pointing accusingly at Jim who could just roll his eyes and glare at his friend, resentful. "No weapon?" Bones continued, voice now syrupy as he brushed a nurse out of his way, tools in hand, "Oh that's okay, because I'm Captain James.T. Kirk, I'll just charm the bastards with my stupidity."

'Would you shutup," he bemoaned, rubbing at his forehead and wincing when he hit the bandages, "yes, I'm an idiot, we know. You're sounding like a broken record Bones," he then scoffed, "imagine that."

"I'm a damn doctor Jim," he smirked as he leaned forward and shone a penlight into his friends eyes, becoming more and more pleased when Kirk all but swore violently at him, covering his eyes to protect them from the light. "You nearly kill yourself, and I get to—"

"Blind me?" Jim swore and opened his eyes as soon as they weren't practically throbbing from pain.

Bones smiled easily, "exactly. When you've got the white coat, and I've lost a few neurons, then we can switch." Almost immediately after his face darkened , "Nurse!" he barked, "get the jackass some pain medication."

And it would go on for days and days.

It was early for the ship, and the night crew were the only ones on up and about, the halls quieter than normal as Jim slowly made his way to his quarters, to sleep in his own bed for the first time in several days.

Everything ached. His entire torso was unbelievably sore, and also unbelievably bruised, matched with taped ribs, and a lung that was saved on the brink of collapse, he wasn't in the best shape. His wrist had healed just fine, probably better than it was before he broke it, and Jim could only feel a slight tightness on his forehead any time he used his facial muscles which would tug at the stitches.

Still, at least he wasn't dead, though he supposed he probably wouldn't be hurting at all if that were the case. Unless, he thought with a small smile as he pushed himself along the corridor, he ended up in hell like Nurse Chapel so kindly had suggested. That, he could imagine, would hurt.

He hadn't seen the blond nurse since she had left him two days ago, and he was surprised to find that that fact had disappointed him bitterly. She was fun, all gumption and disapproval. He could tell that she tried to be above it all, not letting anything really affect her, and attempting to be as light hearted as possible. Which was why he had been so pleased at her rapid reflex to come to his side when he'd awoken that last time, fully expecting her to take her time as he was in no further danger.

He wouldn't say his injury had shaken her, she seemed fine, but she clearly cared about his wellbeing, and that certainly was something he hadn't expected from a woman he'd call an acquaintance. Again, he found himself out of the loop to something he felt he should have been in on. It seemed to him that they were subconsciously already friends.

"Or maybe she's madly in love with me," he said to himself, a little alarmed when he began to chuckle, especially since he was all by himself. Man had he gotten pathetic in those few days.

"Another admirer Captain?"

Jim nearly took himself out from the sheer surprise, not of someone sneaking up on him, but of it being _her_. She seemed to realize this and the broad smile on her face fell into an apologetic frown.

"Oh I'm so sorry, probably shouldn't be scaring the sickly," she managed a half-hearted smile but her brow furrowed more. "A heart attack is the last thing you need hmm?" she was looking at him expectantly, not quite understanding why he was just staring back at her.

She was just so…sweet. If Kirk didn't know she had an attitude to rival Bones' he probably would have fallen for it, and the worst thing was, it wasn't even an act.

"I don't think a dead Captain is as effective as a living one," he stated smoothly, recovering from his scare. She actually laughed at that one, and Kirk found himself smiling along with her , in his abrupt and straight forward manner catching her eyes and holding them.

It seemed to fluster her, and he was about to point it out but she suddenly arched a brow and nodded at him, amused.

"Then we should probably stop that bleeding before you pass out on me…again," she added for good measure and suddenly moved forward into his personal space, standing not a few inches away from him. He had absolutely no idea what was going on, and it wasn't like him at all to be taken off guard. He had caught something about blood, so she clearly wasn't swooping in for a kiss ( not that he expected her to).

He inhaled slowly as she took out a cloth from her uniform pocket, dabbing gently at his stitches which apparently had begun to tear, no doubt from his facial muscles, and blood was beginning to seep out slowly. Well that had to be an attractive look.

She was a whole head shorter than him, so it was amusing to see such a capable woman, practically lunging up to clean his forehead, and yet she didn't seem perturbed by it at all, nor their closeness. In fact she pretty much seemed to be ignoring it.

"I blame you, you know," he said conversationally, minimal accusation in his voice.

"Why am I not surprised?" she shot back, humming slightly to herself as she finished the job and then looked back down, her hands searching for something in her pocket.

"Elevated blood pressure, you surprised the blood out of me," she snorted, and seemingly found what she was looking for, tilting her head back up only to meet his eyes which were appraising her unflinchingly. He could tell once again he flustered her, but she seemed to take it like a champ and cleared her throat, bringing her hand up to reveal a bandaid.

"A bandaid?" he stated dubiously, making a face as she tried to attach it to his forehead, but he leaned back at the last moment, causing her to miss.

"_Yes_" she stressed, annoyed, and moved forward again, Jim this time moved slightly to the left. " Why are--_Stop moving!_ Are you a complete child?" she flicked him in the chin, causing him to let out a sharp protest, but this time he caught her hand.

"Hey I'm all for primitive medicine, especially when you're the one giving it to me," his smile was sly, and she narrowed her eyes at him, he could tell her hands were itching to go t her hips. "But," he interceded and then plucked the bandaid from her fingers, showing it to her. "Do you think I could get a little more masculine looking one? I mean," he inhaled through his nose, "I just don't think purple is my colour."

"Oh good lord," Christine began to laugh, taking the bandaid back from him as she took it in. It was in fact a purple and pink coloured bandaid, it had holographic swirls painted all over it, and pretty much looked like something a 9 year-old girl would wear.

"I'm so-" she rubbed a hand down her face, still smiling. "It's left over from the kids," she said, and the reminder of what had happened seemed to dull the mood a bit, and both Chapel and Kirk deflated slightly.

Kirk watched her as she crumpled the purple monstrosity up and tucked it back into her pocket, the downturn in mood seemed to highlight how tired her eyes were, and the sharp pull downward of her mouth. She was too bright and sunny to look so downtrodden.

He had opened his mouth to say something ridiculous, when she cut him to it, upturned face suddenly sly. "You know who I think would look good in purple," she started, hands still tucked in her uniform pockets.

_You_, he wanted to say, blue eyes flashing with mischief, but instead he shrugged.

"Commander Spock," was her answer, and Jim groaned.

"Oh not this again," he rolled his eyes and turned away from her, starting down the hall, hearing her come up behind him.

"Come on, it's just a joke," she let out an exasperated sigh. 'You're far too sensitive about these things," she put a hand on his forearm and waited for him to turn back to her. When he did he had put on a very dramatic frown, which she immediately groaned at.

"You are such a drama queen," she said, almost as if she were discovering this fact for the first time. He elbowed her slightly in the arm, which she protested to.

"Punish me?" he asked her completely straight faced, and the horrified expression on hers caused him to laugh hard, his hand coming up to cradle his ribs which were protesting very loudly to such abuse. She was still gaping at him when he grimaced, and while she put a hand on his shoulder to steady him, she was still ready for a glare.

"You seem to be doing that just fine on your own, Captain."

"Ah," he drawled, coughing once, "but I'm sure you'd enjoy it. I know I would."

There was a slight smile on her face, so he knew he hadn't completely crossed the line, but judging from a tenseness that wasn't there before, he knew he should probably stop.

"So, " he said, drawing the sound out, " what are you doing up, I didn't think your shift started until 0900"

Christine was either surprised or impressed that he knew, but Jim couldn't really make out the difference because she was walking again, her hand now on his arm to help him back to his room.

"It's good to know that you're stalking me," she said casually, brushing her blond hair out of her face.

"I'm the Captain, it's my obligation to know when all my crew are working," he challenged, not even a little bit believably.

"You mean the women," she retorted, stopping to open one of the doors before guiding him through again.

"Just the pretty ones," he replied back, and was again rewarded by her faint chuckle.

"I know that you're a ladies man," she started, and Jim turned to look at her, surprised anyone except Uhura would just outright say it. She wasn't even saying it like an accusation. "But you must just rely on your looks because your lines," she shook her head and made a distressed face, "they're just _bad_."

He was so taken aback he could only stare at her for a few moments, before she started moving them along again, smug that she had silenced the mighty captain.

"So you think I'm good looking," he said instead when his mouth caught up with his brain, and it was his turn to be smug as she blushed, realizing her error.

"I think you're attractive yes," she said pointedly, obviously wanting the conversation to stop.

"But you've obviously thought about this, maybe lie awake at night?" he smirked and canted to his head to the side, knowing that she would try to avoid his eyes. "Do I keep you up at night Nurse? " he leaned in, dropping the tone of his voice into a husky drawl, entirely sure of himself, despite the fact that he was banged up pretty bad.

They stopped suddenly and Kirk was prepared for her to protest wildly, as they often did, hell most didn't at all, just sunk into him like they were drowning or something (Bones called it acute stupidity).

Instead Christine turned to him, blue eyes looking at him knowingly. "Rest up Captain, I believe it was you who said a living Captain is better than a dead one," she gave a grin of a person who was entirely pleased with themselves and patted his arm before turning away and starting back down the hall, the clicking of her heels the only sound in the whole corridor.

Jim watched her incredulously, blinking in confusion as he tried to figure out how that just happened. He looked back to where they had stopped to find that it was in fact the door to his quarters.

"Who's stalking who now," he muttered as he entered the code, sparing another glance down the hall before slipping inside his room.

* * *

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	3. 1 year 6 months : Christine

A/N: Alright, so this one took me a while, I still don't like it. I'm moving foreward 6 months, and will be doing that periodically. It'll be more of a 'important points in their relationship.' I'm also a little concerned that this is too much on romance, I'm trying to incorporate other stuff as well.

**PLEASE REVIEW** I can't change things or continue if I don't hear from you. **Also I'd love a beta, I'm too lazy sometimes.**

Disclaimer: Based of of JJ's 2009 reimagined Star Trek. Characters aren't mine, I've taken artistic liscence with them. Cheers! Takes place over a year after the film

This chapter flashes forward 6 months, and Christine has been accepted into Kirk's inner circle. Also, you'll find out about Spock and Uhura in the next chapter. 

* * *

  


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"You look happy," Sulu observed with a friendly smile, sliding into the seat across from Christine in the mess hall. Christine, who had been reading a book, barely blinked as Sulu sat down, quickly dog earing her page before setting the book down by her side.

"Do I?" she smiled, fingers self-consciously going up to her hair and face as if her appearance was some answer. "I shouldn't," she leaned forward, "I went to bed 4 hours ago, not exactly beauty sleep if you know what I mean."

Sulu exhaled a laugh and forked a piece of egg into his mouth. "I didn't realize a good nights sleep was the key to happiness."

"Then you've been lied to," she scoffed, rubbing tiredly at her eyes. "What I wouldn't give for my bed back on earth, down comforters, an obscene amount of pillows, and" she yawned, "no one paging me at 3 in the morning because they accidentally locked the medicine cabinet and they were too afraid to call McCoy."

Sulu arched a brow, "but let's be honest Chapel," he made a pained face "would you want to wake the Doctor up for that?"

Christine scrunched up her face and sighed. "Ah, he's harmless, you've just got to learn not to value your self-esteem," she grinned softly and nodded to Sulu's orange juice. "Do you mind?" she asked politely, and Sulu shook his head, still chewing his food.

They sat in silence for a few moments, Christine sliding her eyes shut, letting the quiet chatter of the mess hall lull her into a relaxed state.

"So you never answered my question," Sulu piped up, and blearily Christine, with her chin propped up by her hand, blinked at him.

"Was it a question?" she clenched down on her teeth hard to prevent another yawn from escaping out.

Sulu rolled his eyes and brandished his fork like a knife. "Why so happy, since you apparently have no reason to be," he paused and looked at her suspiciously, "did you borrow from that medicine cabinet?"

Christine laughed softly, her mind slowly waking up, and she dropped her hand back onto the table. "I honestly don't know, I didn't realized I looked it," she shrugged indifferently, knowing that he had to be crazy because her long blond hair was a mess, dark circles cast shadows under her eyes, and she was pale as ever. Such a winning combination.

Sulu suddenly cleared his throat uncomfortably, and Christine watched, bemused, as he shifted in his seat for a few moments. More silence resulted and Sulu appeared like he was working up the courage to say something. "Are you uh-" he said after a moment, trying to look casual, "getting some?"

Shocked, and frankly impressed that he would be so abrupt, Christine coloured slightly and covered a laugh. "Sulu," she crowed and the other man shut his eyes tightly, rubbing at his forehead. "I can't believe you just asked me that, I'm –" Christine didn't really know how to finish that sentence.

"Neither can I," Sulu sighed and held up a hand in apology, "I'm sorry." He began muttering under his breath about someone, but Christine couldn't catch any of it.

"It's fine," she smiled warmly, not at all upset, "People don't generally ask me about that kind of thing, usually because there's nothing to ask about, which, " she sighed with some resignation, "is the case still."

Sulu frowned slightly and gave an apologetic smile. "Well a starship isn't exactly the best place to connect with someone," he offered as if in some sort of consolation, and Christine nodded. That wasn't exactly true, the majority of the crew aboard the vessel were young, fit, and only interested in short term forays in the bedroom. It was pretty much the Academy, but in space, and it was something Christine had never really been a part of.

It didn't upset her, she just couldn't figure out why Sulu of all people would ask her about it.

Now that Christine was officially part of the senior crew and a member of the Captain's inner circle, she'd grown closer to the others. She and Sulu found a camaraderie in the fact that they didn't say much, and their relatively low penchant for attracting drama and being a bit absent-minded made them good friends. It was true, between she, Chekhov, and Sulu, they had been regulated to the shoulders and ears of their little group, if only because they had the brains to stay out of drama. It was like they were babysitters for the others, specifically their Captain who was never short of getting himself into trouble, or causing it.

Spock, by no way of his own, often ended up in the thick of things, either by being dragged in by Kirk, or because of his relationship with Uhura. The woman in question was private about her personal life, but once she found sympathetic ears to listen to the things she otherwise bottled, there was no going back.

For the most part the 3 sat back and accepted it. Scotty enjoyed it immensely, it provided great fodder for laughs, while Christine and Sulu did their best to steer people out of giant blow-ups, and Chekov was stuck being the innocent one who got roped into things before he even knew what was going on.

"I just mean," Sulu amended, trying to back peddle, "that I hope you've found someone, because you spend a lot of time taking care of other people." He gave a kind smile and a shrug of his shoulders, "I just think you should be looking after yourself."

"That's really sweet of you Sulu, but if I'm looking happier it's because people have been staying out of the infirmary," she chuckled.

It was true, accidents had gone down considerably, and despite the odd food poisoning or two, or air sickness, everyone was relatively healthy. They hadn't even been shot at for at least two months, something she'd heard the Captain actually grumbling at, because it meant that they had been allocated to peace missions, and no real rescues or overthrows of some dastardly plot.

"Careful what you say," Sulu remarked, "the fact that nothing has happened means something big will."

Christine screwed up her face and took a drink of her juice. "Don't be so pessimistic, you're going to jinx—"Christine trailed off and nodded behind Sulu where both could make out Lieutenant Uhura coming through the crowd, a tight smile on her face, and a dark look in her eyes. "Uh oh."

Collectively both Sulu and Christine heaved a sigh at the same time, sharing a brief pained smile before Uhura was with them, sliding into a seat next to Sulu with gravity.

"Good morning," Uhura managed, generally chipper but both the nurse and helmsman could see the tightness in her jaw. Uhura was the master of the passive aggressive.

"Morning," Christine smiled slightly, taking in the tenseness of her friends shoulders as the other woman sat there stiffly, almost expectantly. "Everything alright?" she continued, briefly looking to Sulu who seemed incredibly uncomfortable, before her blue eyes slide back to the Lieutenant's.

"Of course," the Lieutenant continued, the smile getting wider and thinner on her face, "there's no reason for me not to be. What about you two? Are you fine?" Her voice had dropped lower at the last few words and Sulu coughed.

"You know, I think I should probably report to—"

"Oh yes, the bridge," Uhura interrupted, the smile was practically stretched to its limits, "let me know how _Commander_ Spock is doing, would you?"

Sulu opened his mouth to respond but Christine gave him a wide eyed look and shook her head. "Right," Sulu mumbled, standing up from his seat, "and this is why I will be going." He looked up, opening his mouth to say goodbye but taking in the thunderous expression on Uhura's face and the worried one on Christine's, he thought better of it and walked away.

"Okay," Christine waited until Sulu was gone and leaned forward, setting her hands on the table, "what's going on Uhura?"

Uhura lasted only a few seconds before she copied Christine's actions, putting her forearms on the table and leaning in, her eyes cloudy and furious. "It seems that it has just occurred to Commander Spock that our relationship is against regulations," she spat out, "and he believes that it is in the best interest of the USS Enterprise that we cease our romantic agreement."

Christine stared at Uhura, agape, the only thought running through her mind was a very resounding _Oh Boy_.

Uhura took in Christine's expression and Christine was horrified to see that tears began to pool at the corner of Uhura's eyes as the other woman blinked furiously, turning her head away.

"Oh Uhura," Christine set a hand over the other woman's wrist, urging her to look back at her. "Are you sure that's what he wants? It seems pretty ridiculous of him to be saying that now, you've been together for…" Christine wasn't actually sure. She knew they'd been together during the academy so Christine was thinking almost 3 years, if not already 3.

"Yes," Uhura stressed, the anger and despair mixing in as she tried to keep face. "That's what he told me this morning, that he thought it would be best for both of us to…go our separate ways," she sniffed and swallowed hard, removing one of her hands from Christine's hold so that she could wipe at her eyes. "I don't understand. How can that _bastard_--" she stopped and breathed in deeply.

Christine was completely at a loss, this made absolutely no sense to her. She and Spock still weren't very close, she honestly believed that aside from Jim and Uhura Spock wasn't really looking for any other close relationships, the Captain one still boggled everyone's mind. But she knew that Spock cared deeply for Uhura, everyone knew that. So Christine didn't believe for a second that he'd suddenly thought better of the relationship two years after they'd become colleagues.

"Listen to me," Christine urged, forcing Uhura to look up at her. "I don't believe for a second that he suddenly has stopped having feelings for you, something else must be going on," she bit into her lip, "has he seemed off to you?"

Uhura made a disapproving noise in the back of her throat and glared. "You mean more uptight, smug, and standoffish than usual?" she looked away again, "no. I haven't noticed anything."

Christine frowned, "well," she pushed her hair off her face and leaned forward again, "there has to be some sort of explanation. And to be honest if there isn't?" Christine shook her head, eyes full of sympathy "then he's not worth it."

Uhura pressed her lips together hard as she fought back more tears and shook her head. "It's not that easy Christine, I can't just-" she stopped and took in a large breath, steadying herself. Christine wished she had the composure that Uhura did, the woman would be in a flying rage and despite gritted teeth remain completely professional. Somehow Christine wasn't sure in working so closely with the Commander that Uhura would be able to hold her tongue.

"Hey," Christine patted her friends hand and met her eyes, "I'm going to talk to Jim, maybe he knows what the Commander is thinking," she smiled when Uhura snorted, wiping at her eyes again. "I know, unlikely, but it's a start. Don't you worry, I'll handle this okay?"

"Just make sure you speak in small words or else the Captain won't understand you," Uhura deadpanned, and both girls erupted into chuckles, Uhura's mood at least a little bit better. "Seriously though, you don't have to do that," Uhura swallowed hard and met her friend's eye. "I'm a big girl, I can handle this. And I definitely don't want Kirk to know about it," she bit down on the inside of her cheek.

"Okay," Christine said unsurely, her Florence Nightingale urge to fix everything and everyone, making her doubt Uhura. "If you're sure," she observed Uhura's pained expression and decide that she would settle for an angry Uhura and speak to the Captain, at least this way they could figure out what was going on.

Standing up from the table, Christine nodded towards the door. "Let's go, you and I are supposed to be somewhere else cleaning up the messes of pigheaded men," Uhura rolled her eyes and squared her shoulders, standing with Christine.

"At least yours has a brain," Uhura sniped but smiled half-heartedly, evidence of the fact that she'd cried only in the redness of her eyes. "I'll go clean up, see you later?" Christine yawned into her hand but nodded dismissively.

"Thanks Chapel," Uhura said quietly, leaning in for a hug which Christine gave willingly, patting the older woman on the back.

"It's what I'm here for," Christine sighed, and made a mental note to smacked Sulu for escaping when he did. Stupid Asian bastard.

* * *

When Christine arrived to her shift, coffee in hand for McCoy, she was surprised to find that the med bay was actually busy, at least 20 more people than usually were bustling around, running into one another, and barely apologizing as they darted from one person to the next.

Puzzled, Christine stopped just short of the door ,watching as everyone milled about, wondering if there was something that she was missing.

Out of the corner of her eye Christine spotted Bones who was pointing urgently at one of the biomonitors, looking entirely pissed off and very much in need of coffee. Slipping through people she stopped just next to him, waiting for him to finish with one of the other nurses before offering the cup.

"You look like you need this," she managed to tone down her chipper tone and held the coffee up. "What's going on?" she continued looking out to the masses, wincing when someone clipped her elbow.

"Damn ship is pumping carbon monoxide into the lower decks," he grabbed the cup from her, not bothering to take a sip. "So now we've got an overcrowded infirmary and a bunch of half-wit engineers who tell me that when the alarm went off they thought it was an attack, so they went _to_ their stations," Bones punctuated his sarcastic disbelief with a pointed finger. "These are the apes that are running our ship Chapel," he griped and finally took a long swig of the coffee, which no doubt burned his throat.

Christine sighed and scrubbed at her face, taking in the poisoned engineers who all seemed to just be suffering from a small dosage of the gas, only enough to have them puking their guts out all over the once polished floor. "Well is it fixed?" she questioned turning to see that Bones' attention was caught on something else.

"Let's count how many more idiots come through here and then we'll know," he said caustically and then nodded towards the doorway where their Captain was standing. "Oh look, here's one now," he said under his breath, but smiled when Christine snorted, doing her best to cover up her amusement as the Captain made his way past all the people.

"Bones, Chapel," he nodded, trailing off as he looked around the room. "Having a party?" he questioned casually, arching a brow when one of the engineers heaved the contents of their stomach all over one of the other nurses.

"Didn't you get an invitation?" Bones questioned, and motioned for the two of them to step back and out of the way as another engineer was wheeled in.

"C02 poisoning," Christine offered, answering the Captain's question. Kirk merely puffed up his cheeks and let out a long breath, not at all surprised. "Heard about that, Scotty's not too impressed with the bunch of them, seems they ignored the alarm and remained in the area," the Captain seemed slightly exasperated, and Christine noted that he looked as tired as she did, though with his blue eyes and easy smile, he pulled it off a bit better.

"But it's all dealt with," Kirk continued, and crossed his arms over his yellow clad chest, turning his attention back on the two medical officers. "So," he grinned, " you're probably wondering why I'm here," as if it had to be the question on everyone's minds.

Bones merely took another sip of coffee and shrugged, "giving me an ulcer?" he deadpanned, and Christine rolled her eyes at the two of them, itching, now that the Captain was here, to get him alone to ask about Spock.

"Well we got a transport of new cadets," he ignored Bones expertly, rubbing at his jaw, "some of those are engineers, a communications officer, more security, and 4 new nurses."

Bones groaned and set the coffee cup down, "great, and I suppose you expect me to train them ? Damnit Jim I'm a Doctor not a babysitter," his eyes flashing as Kirk shrugged indifferently before peering over Bones' shoulder to look at Christine.

"Well," he drawled," I'm not the chief medical officer but I figured as Head Nurse, Chapel here could do it," as soon as the words left his lips he was grinning broadly.

Bones let out a low whistle and looked sideways at Christine who was shutting her eyes tightly as if to pretend that the Captain had not just asked that of her. "I bet they're all females, am I right?" she inquired, the exhaustion she'd felt this morning quickly escalating into annoyance. Bones studiously managed to look away, sipping his coffee innocently.

"Possibly," Kirk responded.

"All pretty?"

She was met merely with a smile.

"Great, they're bitches," her mood which had been so bright and happy according to Sulu this morning, was diminishing more and more as she thought about having to show around a bunch of young, pretty little nurses who no doubt would assert themselves over small, slight Christine who would probably have to lose her temper in order for them to shut the hell up. Perfect.

Bones was entirely amused by her comment, agreeing with her completely, but Kirk merely shook his head at her. "Christine, Christine, why do pretty girls automatically equal bitchiness?" he inquired before nodding at her. "You're attractive, does that make you a bitch?"

"Jim, stop trying to seduce my Head Nurse," McCoy growled, glaring pointedly at the Captain who lifted his hands up as if in surrender.

"I was merely pointing out an error in her logic Bones," his grin fell to the side, and Christine was again reminded about how effortless he made things look, even his douchbaggery.

"It's fine Doctor McCoy, it's not like the Captain here could actually get anywhere," she smiled charmingly before taking the coffee from Bones' hands and finishing it off, practically thrusting it into his chest with considerable force. Christine was unimpressed and now severely annoyed.

"Excuse me," she managed, tight-lipped, " I have to meet the new cadets," and strode past the two men. She stopped just in front of the Captain and glared visibly. "You," she pointed to,"I need to talk to you."

Kirk arched a brow and stared back at her blank-face, arms still folded over his chest "I need to talk to you….sir," he offered.

Christine nearly smacked the smug look off her Captain's face, but as she stared at him hard, Jim straightened, pushing back off of the bed and sighed. "Alright, let's go," he gestured for her to lead the way, turning back to McCoy. "Bones," he grinned broadly, clapping his best friend on the shoulder strongly before leaning in. "If you don't hear from me by lunch," he whispered, "I might be wounded or dead. Come for me," he urged with a stern look, that Bones merely rolled his eyes at.

"Getting your ass kicked by a girl might do you some good," Bones smirked as the Captain narrowed his eyes at him, he and Christine disappearing through the door. Shaking his head, Bones brought the coffee cup back up to his mouth, only to find that Christine had in fact finished it off.

" _Damnit_."

* * *

"You're not actually mad at what I just said back there are you?" James asked as the two of them began to walk down the hall to the transporter room, the annoyance rolling off Christine in waves. "I was kidding Chapel"

"Yes, I know," she griped and massaged her temple, trying to prevent the headache she knew would be coming. "You're just amazingly irritating Captain," she sighed and pulled them to an alcove to the side, Christine looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was within hearing range.

"Uh Chapel," Christine turned back around to face the Captain who actually looked a bit uncomfortable. "Is this what it looks like?" he gestured to the small dark space they were in, hidden from the majority of anybody walking by. Immediately Christine flushed and slapped a hand to her forehead as she realized that they were practically pressed up against each other, and probably would have been if Christine was any bigger.

"No, this is not what it looks like," she gave him a warning with her eyes, which he took with relative ease, merely smiling at her. "You and I will not be making out any time soon, so can you just—" she held her breath and counted to three, "pay attention, I have to ask you something. Please."

Jim for his part merely folded his arms behind his back and cocked his head to the side, acknowledging that she was in fact serious. "Alright, shoot."

Christine took a breath and met his eyes, "it's about Spock and Uhura." The Captain blinked at her expectantly, letting his shoulders relaxed as he realized it wasn't something more serious. She was glad that he didn't open his mouth to say something rude, and it made it easier to ask him.

"Uhura came to me this morning, upset," Jim's forehead furrowed, because the thought that the Lieutenant would be upset that didn't involve trying to maim him, was something serious indeed. "Spock told her that they shouldn't be together anymore, without giving her any reason really at all."

"Wait," Jim held up a hand, trying to catch up. "Spock broke up with Uhura?" The look on his face was now disbelief. "And he's still alive? Jesus man," letting out a breath he looked down for a moment. "Well," he said after a moment, "maybe he doesn't have feelings for her anymore, it happens you know," his mouth twisted into a humourless smile, "there can't always be a happy ending."

Christine folded her arms over her chest, unimpressed. "I know that, but you can't tell me that Spock doesn't care about Uhura, it's not like they were having relationship problems and everyone could see this coming" she pointed out, settling her weight on her one leg as she cocked her hip.

"How do you know that for sure?" the Captain asked calmly, "Spock isn't exactly the most open sort of guy, maybe this had been a long-time coming."

"Point taken," Christine allowed, exhaling through her nose. " But Uhura was blindsided," she reasoned, gesturing with her one hand, "and he told her it was because it was against regulations! Seriously Jim," she continued, watching as he licked his lips, observing the resignation in his eyes, "that's bullshit and you know it."

"Christine," he started, tone of voice already cautious, like he was setting up to let her down gently. "The fact that he used that excuse, fine, I see your point, seems stupid but," he interjected, "he's a guy, Vulcan or not, he's half-human and that's what guys do."

"Unbelievable," she fumed, the irritation swiftly slipping into anger, but mostly disappointment. "Maybe that's what you do," she poked him in the chest, ignoring his protest, "but I am telling you that something is not right, and as your Nurse, bringing a request to her Captain," she stressed, poking again, "I want you to look into this. Because if you don't," her voice dropped lower, her gaze menacing for such a little thing, "you will have a heart-broken Lieutenant who already hates you, and a disappointed Nurse who will stop giving you the time of day."

There was a silence for a moment.

"Wow," Jim said after a few minutes, staring back at her impressed, "I think that was a threat."

"Oh good, you do understand words," she replied back petulantly, a little embarrassed that she'd just done that. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm sorry, that was out of line, it's just—" she swallowed, acknowledging that he was still watching her curiously, not even a little bit phased by her 'threat.' "I don't know Spock very well, but I do know Uhura, and she's in love with him, and for all her bravado and control issues, I don't think she'll get over this so easily, so please," Christine released the bridge of her nose and looked back up at her Captain, "please just do this for me. They're both your friends too, and I don't want to see Spock throw this away for a stupid reason."

Jim rubbed at his jaw, studying her for a moment before nodding. "Alright, I'll have a talk with him, but," he stopped and exhaled loudly, "I can't make any promises. He is Spock after all. And I do have a meeting with the admiral, and negotiations for a peace treaty that need to be done before the end of the day. "

Christine bit her lip and nodded, "understood," satisfied that she'd convinced him to do it. "Thank you,' she said after a moment, bringing a hand to rub the back of her neck, the adrenaline leaving her embarrassed at the fact that she'd not only dragged her Captain into a small alcove, but also threatened him.

"So, I don't do this and you won't give me the time of day?" he asked, voice sly, and Christine gave a mortified chuckle. "That's pretty severe Chapel," he continued teasingly, leaning in so that he was closer to her eye level, enjoying the fact that she was so embarrassed.

"Yes well," Christine cleared her throat, adjusting her uniform with much feigned confidence, "don't mess with me. You might be late to something if you do." She held a frown for only a few minutes before her face burst into a wide grin and she groaned at her own stupidity, leaning forward to hide her face in her hands.

Chuckling he brought an arm up and around her back, patting her shoulder comfortingly, an amused smile on his face. "You're kind of scary Chapel," he said into her hair, and winced when she slapped him in the chest, "and violent."

"And?," she mumbled, heaving a sigh before she lifted her head again.

They looked at one another for a second, Jim still smiling as he smoothed her hair back from her face. "Let's go, you've got a bunch of bitchy nurses to show around, and I've got a Vulcan to speak to," he tugged at her wrist and pulled them out of the alcove, giving Chapel a moment to fuss with her hair and uniform so that she looked at least a little presentable.

'They're going to eat me alive," she voiced, looking up at him, disgruntled. When Christine was comfortable she was brave, assertive, as she'd become after she and the senior crew had become closer friends. But when she wasn't, the Nurse let her insecurities dictate her actions, and being faced with a bunch of catty girls who would smell the lack of confidence on her and pounce, had Christine weary and worried.

Jim gave her a quick sidelong glance before groaning, hand going to his hair "Quit looking at me like I kicked your puppy, listen," he placed his hands on her shoulders, not at all concerned about any weird looks any one was giving them. "I have it on good authority that you can take down a 200 lb man in 10 seconds flat," he was of course referring to an incident with a very upset communications officer who refused to get an updated vaccine. Christine had artfully struck him in the solar plexus and then stabbed him with a needle when he was bent over, clutching his side. Because Bones was there to witness it, she'd never lived it down.

"Yes but these are girls," Christine argued back, not understanding why men thought women were poor defenceless creatures. "I have it on good authority that we are an evil, evil sex, ugh, just—" she huffed "I'm going. You go talk to Spock and be all Captainy. I'll find you later," she reasoned, not at all impressed that he was giving her an amused smirk.

"Sounds good," he patted her shoulder comfortingly, letting his hand rest there for a few moments "I'll see you later Nurse" Christine gave a half-hearted wave but didn't bother to watch him leave as she started down the hall to the transporter room, mood dark.

Whether she was cursing Sulu's name for jinxing her remains to be seen.

* * *

When Christine arrived in the transporter room the new cadets were already there, 4 girls, taking great joy in their female companionship, only stopping their chattering every so often to roll their eyes at whatever engineering sex joke Scotty was attempting to throw their way.

Christine watched them for a moment, unless all eyes were on the door, people rarely noticed her entrances because she was quiet and unsure, as if she constantly felt out of place. It was funny, because the second she would open her mouth, you'd know about her.

"Excuse me," she cleared her throat, and applauded herself for not twitching when all eyes in the room suddenly swung to her. Immediately, as all women did when a new girl entered the premises, the four girls studied Christine closely, taking in her hair, her face, her posture to determine if she were a threat. Apparently she wasn't because no eyes narrowed, just blank stares or slight smiles. Great.

"I'm Head Nurse Christine Chapel," she said with as much authority as she could muster, surprising herself when it all slid out almost indifferently, like she was too far above this job to care. Ha. Ha Ha Ha. "I trust you had a good journey, I will be- "

"Nurse Chapel!" Scotty interrupted joyfully, swivelling in his chair where he was slumped into, legs splayed far out. "Finally! A woman with a sense of humour" he threw up his hands before leaning forward, making sure Christine was catching his eye. "I tell you Chapel, you're a prize my fair lady," he pressed his lips together, his chin jutting out as he nodded empathically, Christine did her best not to blush as she tried to make herself appear as professional as possible, which was becoming more and more difficult as Scotty tore down any intimidating characteristics brick by brick as he spoke.

"This one," he continued, oblivious, pointing to Christine but his eyes on the other girls, "can stuff 44 sandwiches into her belly in 10 minutes," Christine shut her eyes and bit into her lip as she felt her credibility disappear, "Beat me in an eating contest she did!" he let out a bark of laughter, "she's a role model to you all," he sobered slightly as if making the most important point in the world. "Let that be a lesson to ya," he nodded and then turned back to Christine who was sucking on her teeth, mortified.

"Right," she managed, the 4 girls were looking at her as if she were a joke, pity or condescension already painted on their perfect faces. Damn James T. Kirk to hell. "Follow me if you please," she tilted her head up, shooting Scotty a warning look as he turned around, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible.

"What?' Scotty questioned, entirely perplexed as the girls filed out behind Christine.

Biting into her lip, mood only becoming more and more sour as the seconds ticked by, Christine forced herself to steady her breathing before turning back around to face the girls.

Only one was actually looking at her expectantly, for the most part two were busy taking in the sights of their first starship, the fourth had her arms crossed over her chest, bored and indifferent to her surroundings. If Christine wanted to look for an ally in any of them it was probably going to be the one directly behind her, staring at her as if Christine had the answers to everything.

Christine found the exact opposite to be true after she smiled warmly at the girl, and received a raised eyebrow in response.

"44 in 10 minutes huh?" the girl simpered, her accent polished, sounding Australian if Christine knew her dialects. The other girls who had their focus elsewhere snapped their attention to their superior, going quiet.

Christine bit the inside of her cheek and inhaled through her nose. "As your superior you will address me properly," she said evenly, though the girl was leggy and had a few inches on her, Christine had a formidable stare, anyone knew that. The girl, green skinned with beautiful red hair, and a sneer that was even too perfect for her face, narrowed her eyes.

"My apologies, ma'am," she said stiffly, and the girls behind them giggled nervously, the disinterested one with the dark hair and warm skin actually managed a smile for Christine, which felt gratifying since Christine was sure that later, the green skinned girl was going to hit her and make it look like an accident, no matter her rank.

Fuck.

Christine licked her lips and inclined her head, feeling horrible. She didn't want to make enemies of these girls, she would be working with them, and while Christine didn't care if anyone liked her or not, she did prefer if her work atmosphere was relatively back-stabbing free. "I'm sure you're all tired" she said softer now, kinder, "but if you just bear with me for a few moments, I can show you the basic rooms, and you can all become acquainted with the ship before your shift starts tomorrow. I can-"

"We are well acquainted with an Enterprise ship layout, Nurse Chapel," the redhead sniped, eyes still flinty, "I highly doubt any assistance from _you_," she stressed, the girl with the short ink-black hair behind her stifling a smirk, "will be necessary ma'am."

Christine felt herself colour, thankful that the blush was only working its way up her neck instead of her face, which would have lost her another respect point no doubt.

Normally Christine would have sternly told them all to stuff it and follow her before she went and got McCoy to give them the damn tour, then they wouldn't be so smug. However, the pulsing headache that was beginning to form over Christine's left eyebrow was telling her to screw it, these girls obviously didn't care, and since she was going to be their superior officer and they'd have to suffer for their insolence later, that was just fine by her.

"You know what then," Christine stopped, forcing them all to stop behind her abruptly, nearly careening into Christine's chest. "Go, I have much better things to do than waste my time," her voice was like steel, "with the lot of you ungrateful b-" Christine had to stop herself from actually calling them bitches. "Cadets," she amended, cocking her head to the side coolly. "So I suggest you go, and feel good about the knowledge that you just pissed off not only your commanding officer, but the only ally you would have had in that infirmary," she smiled with as much condescension possible, satisfied when she saw what a mistake the redhead realized she had made, the other girls were shifting nervously as she spoke. "See you tomorrow," she simpered, matching the redhead stare for stare, victory shining plainly in Christine's eye.

Not bothering to see if the girls would disperse or continue to follow her, Christine turned on her heel and began to walk down the hallway, clenching and unclenching her fists as she did, doing her best not to go back to her own room and take a long nap, devoid of interacting with any other people, friend or foe, on this ship.

She knew that she should have sucked it up, as the Captain asked her to show them around. Christine didn't really care what he thought, or if the girls would somehow wander into the engineering deck and become decapitated by some piece of machinery. Okay, that was a lie, she would care. Still, Christine had no time for being disrespected, and was tired that her size, and her apparent lack as a sexual threat, was an indication for her to be treated as less than what her position demanded.

She couldn't even complain to anyone about it, because she hated to inconvenience anyone. "I suck," she grumbled as she passed a few other crew members, not really paying attention as she made her way back to the infirmary.

"Nurse Chapel!" Christine heard from somewhere over her shoulder, and confused, Christine turned around to see the dark haired girl from before, and the two others running up to catch up to her.

"Cadets," Christine raised an eyebrow, looking to each one of them for an answer.

"We apparently find ourselves at a disadvantage as we," the Indian girl continued, a grin on her face, "don't actually know our way around this ship so well. Seems our colleague is so much more _experienced_," there was sarcasm behind her voice, but a teasing glint in the girl's eye that Christine found herself returning the smile almost instantly.

The other girls remained quiet, probably more so scared that Christine's threat held true, than actually interested in being shown around. Christine didn't bother to ask where the other girl was. "Well then," Christine brushed a strand of blond from her face, "I think I can fix that. Follow me."

They toured around for over an hour. The ship, while massive, really didn't seem so big when you were condensing it into an easy to follow fashion, really the only places the cadets would be going were the mess hall, the infirmary, transporter room, and their own quarters. Christine was pleasantly surprised to find that three girls were actually quite nice, it seemed without their leader to set a bad example, they thought for themselves.

Jaya, the dark haired girl was quieter, but charming, surprising Christine by her intelligence and just how much she observed. It was nice to be able to get along so well with a fellow Nurse, Christine had always found herself having trouble with befriending the other girls, she made better friends with males, but that also made her updateable. It was a Catch 22.

"I'll just show you the location of the Bridge," Christine piped up, interrupting the two other girls who were giggling over some engineer they had just passed, Jaya's focus was forward, her eyes taking everything and everyone in. "You may be called to it from time to time, though it's unlikely," she explained, walking sideways so that she could look both at where she was going, and the other girls. "It's doubtful, but I can introduce you to the Captain and the other senior officers if they're there," this was definitely something no other cadet got on an introduction to their ship.

As they rounded the corner, the first thing Christine heard were raised voices, one sounding like the Captain, while the other she didn't recognize. Her stomach tightened slightly as they came closer to the bridge, Christine still managing to put on a small smile so as not to worry the girls. It was definitely the Captain, and the argument seemed to be escalating, because Christine could also hear Uhura's voice trying to persuade both parties to calm down.

"Hmm,, perhaps this isn't the best time," Christine gave a pathetic half laugh, looking back to see that the other girls were wide eyed and staring at the door, Christine having stopped the group by the wall so that they couldn't actually see inside. "If you just want-"

"Well what's the problem Spock," came the Captain's voice, sounding smug, and louder, "If you don't want her then I think she's what you would call _unattached_. I bet I could show her a good time."

As Christine listened to the Captain's words so assured, a feeling of absolute dread settling in her stomach. There was a palpable silence for only a second before an enraged roar ripped through the air, and Christine heard the girls behind her shriek as the Captain and the Commander flew through the doorway, Spock slamming the Captain to the ground with an audible thud.

Christine heard herself shout as Spock landed a punch on Jim's jaw, the Captain's head snapping to the side as Spock did it again, blood splattering against the polished floor beside them. There was a bustle of activity as Sulu and Chekov bounded through the door, trying to pull the Commander off of their Captain, barely succeeding as Spock was both taller and stronger, not to mention completely consumed by his rage.

"Spock!" Uhura shouted, almost tearfully as she too came beside the Commander, pulling at his arm to stop him from beating the Captain to death, which seemed like his intent judging from the sheer amount of blood Jim's face was producing. As Christine stared, horrified, she wondered why Jim wasn't doing anything. She knew that he could fight, well too, and she also knew he was used to being beaten up as his numerous infirmary visits were any indication. But she thought he believed in no-win scenarios, so she couldn't figure out why he wasn't trying to defend himself. It made her sick to her stomach.

"Stop it!" she shouted and joined the large group that was trying to pull Spock off Kirk. "_Commander_!" she gritted as she and Uhura pushed at his arm, that punch missing, but another one was being prepared.

"Spock, please" Uhura said, this time almost in defeat, Uhura's voice half raspy from pain and use, and half pleading. It seemed to get through to the Vulcan who stopped his merciless beating just short of another punch, his breathing hard as he allowed Sulu and Chekov to pull him backwards and onto the floor.

The air was silent except for Spock's hard breathing and Jim who was now on his side, coughing up the blood that had lodged in his throat, his breathing wheezy.

Everyone was frozen where they were, in disbelief about what had just happened. Christine knew that something similar to this had happened before, during the Enterprise's first mission in rescuing Admiral Pike. She'd heard that ballsy as ever, Kirk had egged the Vulcan into a fight to admit his inability to Captain, something that had worked out, but at a heavy price.

Christine had never seen Spock angry, stern yes, but consumed by rage—it was absolutely unbelievable for her, and as she stared at the Vulcan, his eyes on his Captain, still furious judging from the tightness of his mouth, but probably horrified in himself, Christine felt like she was looking at a whole new person.

But as no one said anything, Christine was shaken out of her daze by Kirk, who let out a painful groan, flopping back onto the blood splattered ground with an audible thud. "Jim," she hissed and crawled over to him, her expert fingers flying over his face to check for more serious contusions, taking in the cuts around his nose and eye with efficient ease, her cool fingers settling on his jaw and bloodied lips. "You dumb bastard," she said quietly, blood pouring from his nose steadily, which he had enough energy to wipe away, trying to sit up to prevent any more blood from travel back down his throat.

Kirk ignored her, staring instead at Spock who was still breathing heavily, accepting Uhura's hand at his arm as they looked back at one another. "So," Kirk said, voice entirely airy, though he was breathing hard, "you admit that you love her then?"

Christine's mouth dropped as she stared at the Captain, Uhura's doing the same as everyone began to talk at once, almost spluttering with disbelief as they realized that their Captain had just gotten his ass handed to him all to prove a point. Spock, for the first time since Christine had known him let the emotion show in his eyes, anger mixed into realization, into shock, and then into resignation as he stared back at Jim, who despite his bloodied mouth was now grinning in complete victory.

"You idiot!" Uhura spat out furiously, letting go of Spock's arm as if she were going to slap the Captain herself. "Are you out of your mind?" she exclaimed, but Jim just smiled at her, wincing when it pulled at his cuts and the bruises that were soon to appear.

"Spock," Kirk said, instead of addressing Uhura who's face was flushed in embarrassment and anger. The two men looked at one another, Kirk merely tilting his head to get a response out of Spock, not needing to repeat the question.

Spock sat on the floor for a moment, so calm compared to everyone else, so calm compared to the enraged Vulcan he had been only moments before. He leaned forward and stood up, extending his hand to the Captain as he did, Jim snorting as he took it, allowing Spock, with Christine's help, to get him into a semi-standing position.

"I must express my gratitude, and my sincerest apologies," the Vulcan said, hand still clasped securely on Kirk's forearm as the other man nodded almost sluggishly, a mess compared to Spock's composure. "Thank you," the Vulcan said, and if Christine didn't know any better she would have thought that the corners of Spock's mouth tilted a bit at the sides, his eyebrow raised.

Kirk seemingly waved him off, and Christine watched as Spock stepped back, turning to Uhura who was wild-eyed at the both of them, still flushed from her anger, and obviously emotional from the entire situation. Spock took her hand in his, a tender expression on his face as he guided the dazed Lieutenant away from the scene, leaving Christine, Sulu and Chekov to look blankly at one another, none of them knowing exactly what to say.

"Nurse Chapel," came a steady voice to Christine's side and Christine blanched as she realized that the new cadets had been there the entire time, all of them looking exactly as the rest of the crew did, if not more traumatized. Jaya stepped forward, gesturing to the Captain, "he needs to be seen to, would you like me to call for a gurney?" she asked, all business like as Christine snapped back to attention.

"Yes," she grimaced as she tried to readjust her position on the Captain, her hand falling to his waist. Sulu immediately jumped forward to take the majority of the weight on the Captain's other side.

"No," Kirk mumbled, shaking his head, "don't need one, I can walk." He winced and brought a finger to the corner of his mouth ,prodding at the gash which was beginning to clot. Christine gave the Captain a disapproving look but knew that he would be fine, nodding at Baya who was looking at her expectantly.

"What the Captain wants, the Captain gets," she sighed, exasperated, "page McCoy anyway to let him know we're coming, oh-" Christine clenched her eyes shut, ignoring Kirk's laboured breathing, "you don't know how yet uh, Chekov?"

The younger man came into focus, curly haired and wide eyed. "Yes, I kin show her, Nurse. Zis way, plez," he gestured for the cadets to follow him into the bridge, Jaya smiling, charmed at the young ensign, the other two girls still looking like a deer caught in the headlights at their supposed Captain who waved at them, a smile on his face.

"Hey, they are pretty," he voiced, and laughed half-heartedly as Sulu and Christine heaved him up so that he was standing fully on his own, both looking up at him to see if he could stand without falling over. "As bitchy as you thought?" he continued, his fingers pressed against the bridge of his nose, his blue eyes still bright as he looked at Christine.

"You are unbelievable," she shook her head, "and I don't mean in a good way," came a warning before he could make a sly comment. " What the hell were you thinking?" she exclaimed, gesturing to the blood on the floor and then to his mangled appearance. "Did you have a death wish or something, honestly—" she cut herself off, looking to Sulu who was staring at the two of them with trepidation, unsure if he should take part in this.

"Christine, let's just get him to McCoy," he settled, trying to calm her down, "we all know that the Captain has a few screws loose, and it's something that can't be fixed so—"

"Hey," Kirk protested weakly, not actually offended at all. 'What's with all this? The only one who said a thank you, was the guy pummelling me into the ground," he sniffed, and made a retching noise when more blood went down his throat. "I need a new crew, so ungrateful."

Christine gaped at him and shook her head, lips pressed firmly together as the three of them made their way down the hall, blood following them. "Grateful? Why would I thank you for the opportunity to stitch you up," she poked him in the chest, "yet again."

Kirk rolled his eyes as best he could suddenly stopping, and causing Christine and Sulu to stop with him. "You know, I'm fine," he insisted, brushing her hand off of his arm. Sulu who had been holding him by his other shoulder let him go carefully, watching to make sure he didn't topple over. "Really" he said, looking at them both, now a little annoyed, "I've had way worse," that she believed, and reluctantly she lifted her hands off of him, but refused to step away, and wouldn't' even if he ordered her to.

Coughing into his hand he looked around, the crew that had come to watch the fight dispersed immediately like mice, and Kirk shook his head. "What I do need," he pointed to Christine, wincing from the bright lights overhead, "is an ice pack, and some stitches," he tilted his head at her, "think you can help me out?"

Hands on her hips Christine nodded, motioning for him to follow her. "Thank you ," she heard Kirk say, and she turned to catch Sulu's eye, both of them sharing an exasperated smile before the helmsman disappeared back onto the bridge.

Both were quiet for some time as they moved to the elevator, Kirk a little slower due to an unforgiving headache that felt like it was splitting his skull. Christine was confused, irritated and very agitated, she was also embarrassed because she could tell that inadvertently this was all her fault. She had asked him to talk to Spock, and while that's all she actually meant, if she hadn't suggested it in the first place none of this would have happened.

"Go ahead," Kirk said, voice low and rumbling as it always was, and she could tell by his tone that he was amused.

"With what sir?" she calmly stared ahead, her pulse pounding against her skull.

"I can see the vein in your forehead Chapel," he commented wryly, "let's hear it."

She tested her temper out as she gritted her teeth, tongue sliding over the front of her teeth as she continued to stare ahead. "You know what," she said finally, and leaned over him to stop the lift, the elevator jerking to a stop. 'Fine," she punctuated by spinning around, mouth tight and her big doe eyes furious.

"What the _hell_ did you think you were doing?" she uttered, stepping forward, not at all discomfited when Kirk refused to step back, instead staring her down.

"What was I doing?" he chortled, "I believe I was doing what you asked. I talked to Spock, maybe not in the way that you had in mind," he drew out before she could get a word in, "but I do believe I fixed the little problem so," he held his hands out, watching her with slight annoyance, "I don't see the problem."

"You're right," her hands slid to her hips, "getting yourself beaten to a bloody pulp was _not_ what I had in mind, Jesus Jim," she exclaimed, looking at him like she had no idea where he'd come from. "I have several problems, one of which is the very troubling discovery that you seem to solve all your problems by getting as much of your blood onto the floor as possible," she pointed out, gesturing to his bloodied face, which he rolled his eyes at crossing his arms over his chest. "Secondly, Uhura was not supposed to know that I spoke to you, and no matter the result from your little performance, she's going to lose trust in me you smug bastard!" her voice was getting higher the more distressed she became, and it was causing him to furrow his brow.

"I have a very small number of friends on this ship _Captain_, and while you all treat me like the shoulder to cry on, and least it's something," she bit into her lip turning away for a moment before she was facing him again, the anger slowly dissipating into just annoyance.

"Thirdly,"

"Jesus there's more?" he griped, earning himself a smack on the arm as she brandished her finger dangerously.

"Thirdly," she inhaled, not understanding why she was so upset. "I don't want to ever see you getting yourself hurt over me," it came out wobbly, but Christine was on a roll so when he looked a little confused at her, she ignored it. "Do you hear me? I don't like it when you idiots get yourself hurt on your own, but you better not get yourself dead and buried because of me, understand?"

There was a very pregnant silence, and Christine, whose day had gotten worse and worse by the hour, had had her breaking point, the emotions of the day coming to a head.

'Christine," he said quietly, reaching forward for her, but like a skittish animal she backed into the elevator wall, refusing to let him touch her. "Christine," he tried again, eyes intense and expression unmoving, staring at her hard. She closed her eyes, the heels of her palms pressing into her eyes as she tried to stop herself from crying. By the time his fingers were hesitantly brushing her arm, she had given in, not resisting at all when he pulled her into his chest, arms wrapping around her slight frame.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair, his fingers running through the strands comfortingly. She swallowed back any sobs or tears she may have embarrassingly expelled all over the Captain's yellow shirt, and instead pressed her head into his chest hard, the irritation and anger she'd felt for the whole day turning into plain exhaustion as he whispered things into her hair.

"You're right, I'm an idiot," he said, chuckling when she nodded into his chest, earning a smile from her though he couldn't see it. "And I do tend to…go headlong into a fight instead of reasoning my way through things but," he pointed out, as if to save his pride, "that's what Spock is for, and if we both reach the same conclusion I don't see—"

"Ugh stop talking," she groaned, pushing herself away from him slightly so that she could look up into his face. "I hope that's a joke, because you're not getting it, you psycho," she said with narrowed eyes. "Just be a normal person for 5 minutes, _please_" she stressed, wiping at her eyes, and moving to get out of his embrace.

"Hey," he said, tightening his grip on her. "I am sorry," it was entirely sincere, and Christine knew it, she was also overreacting in such a typical girlish way, which sickened her.

"No I'm sorry," she said, hand going to her forehead. "You only did what I asked, albeit stupidly," her eyes flicked to his which were sparkling with amusement, "_and_. you're hurt, and I just gave you the nagging of a life time." She wrinkled her nose in disgust with herself.

"It's endearing," he offered to assuade her and she sighed.

"Mmm," she grunted, and this time he let go of her, their bodies still close together. "It's payback for having to escort those girls around who," she held up a hand before he could say anything, "are lovely for the most part. But you should probably assign me security detail because I think one of them might try to kill me when no one's looking."

He gave her a disbelieving look which she only shrugged at. "I'm sure you could take her," he argued, tenderly pressing on the bruise quickly developing on his jaw. "Gah, where are we going anyways?" he asked, blinking blearily around.

Christine shrugged and reached behind her, pressing the button so that the lift would start moving again. "Closest place is the first aid station by mess hall."

There was a companionable silence for the rest of the ride, Christine was tired and content for at least the moment, that the whole mess of the day had been taken care of. Kirk for his part was just in pain, smug because he'd gotten Spock to lose his shit yet again, but still in pain.

"You were pretty happy this morning," Kirk cleared his throat, looking down when Christine turned to look at him oddly. "Sorry I wiped the smile off your face," he apologized, lifting his head ot meet her eyes, eyes intensely blue, smile sheepish.

"You might have been the cherry on top, but it wasn't you specifically," Christine rubbed at the back of her neck, offering him a soft grin. "You know," she cocked her head to the side, looking at him curiously, "that's the second time I've heard that today. Sulu, oh man," she began to laugh, remembering what had happened that morning. "Sulu asked me if I was getting some, _Sulu_," her grin was broad and she leaned against the wall, mood lifting.

"Is that right," Kirk drawled, but said nothing more. Well that wasn't the Kirk she knew. Christine furrowed her brow, smile slowly dropping from her face. Oh, well then. Maybe it wasn't as funny as she had thought.

A little embarrassed, Christine was about to turn back around when the Captain spoke up again.

"And what was your answer?" he asked casually.

"None, obviously," she replied back, she'd long lived with her failings in the relationship department, and it wasn't like everyone else didn't know. She turned to look at him and was met with a piercing look, the blue pining her to where she stood.

Christine had that sudden arresting feeling she had the first time she'd sat there, holding his hand after his surgery, the same blue eyes at that time begging her to stay with him. He was very good looking, everyone knew that, and while his face was blue and purple, it only made him more attractive. As her eyes trailed from his intense eyes to the rugged cut of his jaw and wide lips, something deep and feral gripped her at her abdomen.

"Captain," she started but he interrupted her, the easy smile filling his face as the elevator door behind her opened, the silence filling with the bustle of activity on the ship.

"C'mon Nurse," he urged, pressing a hand to her back and guiding her out of the lift, his palm warm on her skin. "I've got a meeting with the Admiral in an hour, and I don't want to have to explain this," he pointed to his face, chuckling as the two made their way through the crowd at to the first aid station.

But while Kirk could laugh, all Christine could think about was that look in the elevator, and the suspicion that Sulu might not have been the one to come up with that question earlier that morning.

* * *

Read and Review


	4. 1 year 6 months: Kirk

**A/N:** So it's been a while, my apologies. I kinda lost steam with this after I read a McCoy/Chapel fic (which was amazing) and to be frank I'm so new to this fandom its hard for me to get the details right. I spent hours on te Memory Alpha just for one tiny detail. It's hell but I'm trying. I think I'll still continue, I'm trying to make this uncliche'd as possible and to include as many characters.

**PLEASE REVIEW. DON'T JUST FAVOURITE, REVIEW**. I can't improve if I don't hear from you.

This is still unbeta'd right now so forgive me. I do have an awesome beta, and we're gonig over past chapters so I can edit them first.

**Disclaimer:** Based of of JJ's 2009 reimagined Star Trek. Characters aren't mine, I've taken artistic liscence with them. Cheers! Takes place over a year after the film

So this picks up where Christine left off, and includes a few stuff that happened previously but from Kirk's point of view. ALSO this is part one of two parts as I actually have way more for Kirk to do. So yay?

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Her breath was hitching as he dug his fingertips into her hips, lifting her so that her legs wrapped around his own , the two of them pressed intimately together. "Jim," she breathed against his ear, her lips running along the shell, heavy breathing making his groin tighten to the point of pain. He wasted no time in pushing her up against the console of the bridge, her blond hair bursting with blue highlights from the screen behind them, bathing to two of them in fluorescents.

She released her hold on his hips, letting her legs fall just alongside of his. "Come here," she uttered, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulled him closer to her, trapping him with her thighs as she brought him in for another kiss. Her tongue was running along the bottom of his lip before she bit into the plush warmth, gripping his shirt harder as if trying to get him closer. "Do you know how long I've waited for this?" she panted, releasing her hold on his mouth as her fingers danced along the hem of his shirt, delighting when he let out a guttural moan as she raked her nails along his abdominal muscles.

He found himself without words as he stared at her, his forearms on other side of her, bracing himself as if from collapsing or from ravishing her there and then.

Her question went without an answer as she leaned in again, her hand simultaneously dipping past the band of his briefs. "Christine," he groaned, leaning his forehead against hers as she –

Kirk woke with a start, chest heaving as he tried to get his bearings in the darkness. He was panting, sweat causing the sheet to stick to him despite the cooler temperature of the room.

He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to orient himself, not fully comprehending the darkness when previously it had been so bright, the imprint of her blond hair against his face seared into his brain. "Shit," he swore, collapsing back onto the bed as he stared up at the ceiling.

This was bad, very bad.

Of course he had erotic dreams about women, hell normally he didn't even have to because he usually had the real thing whenever he wanted. He'd dreamt about Christine before, but that was when he hadn't known her, only flirted with her well over a year ago when visiting Bones. She'd merely given him a blank look and moved on so he hadn't really bothered with her ever again. To save his pride he'd dreamed she'd had that same severe expression and may have been brandishing a whip. He'd never dreamt of her again, and now that she was becoming a close friend, if anything, Kirk was stunned to find himself dreaming of her, and like _that_

"Christ," he groaned, rubbing at his eyes. He could still hear her in that breathy moan, asking him if he knew how long she'd been waiting for him. The feeling of her nails against the dip of his hipbone sent a white hot jolt straight through him, and he winced.

This was very, very bad.

He didn't want to be thinking of this the next time he saw her. She was his friend, he respected her, and he wasn't entirely sure if his big mouth wouldn't totally ruin that friendship for him. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuck.

Alright. Think other thoughts.

He had a meeting with Admiral Pike later that day, and mediating a peace treaty that Uhura was going to accompany him on. Good, work slows the libido down. He'd have to check with Bones about the new shipment of cadets they were getting, he knew four of them were nurses and—

And there his mind went back to Christine.

Exhaling heavily through his nose, Kirk punched the mattress under him, very discomfited. This shouldn't be an issue for him, he was a ladies man, charming, capable, brash, he didn't even like Christine in any sexual kind of way, but apparently his body was telling him that he at least thought about her that way.

He could tell as the minutes ticked by that he wasn't going to get anymore sleep (and if he was going to dream again, he wasn't sure he wanted to sleep). He was already standing, thick framed glasses perched on his nose as he looked for his pants when a call suddenly came through, chirping noisily, demanding his attention.

"Accept," he yawned, nearly taking himself out as his foot got caught in the pant leg.

"Captain," Scotty's voice came through, terse, and annoyed.

Kirk, buttoning the fastening on his pants, looked up to see the vid screen of the Scottish man. "," he drawled, "everything alright?' he postured, blinking blearily as he took in the other man's expression.

"That'd be a no Captain," he turned, several people dressed in white were carting off what looked like dead bodies, and Kirk, growing steadily alarmed, stepped closer to the screen, eyebrow raised.

"Scotty," Kirk said calmly, keeping patient as he was sure there was a good explanation "are those what I think they are?"

"Depends," the Scot chortled, his normally upbeat attitude considerably dampened to the point of exasperation, "if yer thinkin' that you need better engineers because they're a lot of daft wankers, then certainly."

"Tell me they aren't dead."

"Deid? No, they shoulda," Scotty scoffed, and Kirk's eyes slid to one engineer who was stumbling about, looking like they were about to be sick. "Aye, s'what you get ya poofter!" Scotty shouted to the man, who didn't seem like he really cared, or knew exactly what was going on, and Kirk watched him stumble off screen. "Look," Scotty continued, "there was a leak in the ventilation and the ship started pumpin' carbon monoxide into the air. I got it contained and under control but," and Kirk watched the other man clench his teeth, "when the alarm went off the lot of them went _to_ their stations instead of getting their arses out of there. So," he spun back around, a bit overdramatic, and simply gestured to the unconscious bodies being wheeled to the med bay.

Kirk slid his eyes shut, lifting the rim of his glasses so that he could pinch the bridge of his nose. "Alright, thank you for letting me know, do you have enough cadets to run the ship?" he questioned, looking back to Scotty who was nodding. "Aye, though I'm not sure engaging in any battles would be the best idea today sir," he barred his teeth as he looked back around the room, " might hear the alarm and leave this time."

Kirk smiled, amused. "Well you're a capable man Scotty, as long as everything's okay I'm not concerned. I'll stop by the med bay to see what McCoy says, thank you," he yawned again and Scotty nodded, his mood slowly returning now that the situation had been taken care of.

"Oh," Kirk started, preventing Scotty from leaving. "We're receiving new cadets early this morning, so you should be in the transporter room," Scotty looked interested, his normally chipper mood showing through as he grinned

"Are we, well that's excitin'," he smiled, and Kirk watched, amused, as the other man clapped his hands together. "Any engineers?" he questioned, and Kirk nodded.

"A few actually."

"Wonderful, here's hoping they have a brain" Scotty waggled his eyebrows, "or some beautiful paps if you know what I mean."

"I have no idea what you mean Scotty," he shook his head at the Scot who looked put out.

"Y'know," Scotty made hand motions that either meant breasts, or two melons. Kirk went with the former.

"Ah," Kirk grinned, " we can only hope. Talk to you later Scotty," and with a quick goodbye on the Chief Engineer's end the call ended.

"Unconscious engineers, good start to the morning," Kirk said wryly to himself, setting his glasses back down and picking up his yellow captain's shirt, sliding it on as he made for the door. At least it distracted him from thoughts about Christine-

Kirk stopped, hanging his head in frustration. Damnit.

* * *

The mess hall already had a long line, most of the people not even waiting for food, but coffee, which was what Kirk wanted as well. He'd made it painfully clear a few weeks after he became acting Captain that he didn't want special treatment (mostly because after two weeks of amusing himself by abusing his rank, he'd gotten yelled at by Uhura). Now, as he stood behind the long line, the coffee just within eyesight, he really wished he'd demanded the opposite.

"It pays to be earlier," Sulu said from behind him, glass of orange juice in one hand, and a plate of eggs in the other.

"Than 7?" Kirk winced and shook his head, "not happening. I should just have my own private coffee replicator," he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Perks?" Sulu questioned easily, smile sideways on his face.

'Perks," Kirk agreed.

"Are we still on for those fencing lessons?" Sulu asked slyly, as if he already knew the answer, which was a resounding 'no.'

'Sulu," Kirk pressed his lips together, clapping the man on the shoulder, "How about you keep with the fencing, I'll keep with the fists, and together we'll make a great team. Sound good?" The line moved forward an inch.

Sulu looked at the Captain with a combination of amusement and acceptance and just shrugged. "Fine by me, hey—" he turned to look somewhere over the Captain's shoulder and Kirk turned around to look with him. "Do you see that?" the Asian man was in fact pointing to Christine who had just taken a seat at one of the tables in the back corner, a book in her hand and a large smile on her face.

"What is she smiling about?' Sulu gave a short breath, and the two men continued to observe the blond nurse, she seemed completely oblivious to everyone around her, engrossed in her book. She looked a little tired, but her skin had a healthy glow that only came from whatever she was smiling about.

"Maybe she had a _good_ night," Kirk said automatically and Sulu chuckled, used to the Captain's often perverted sense of humour. Kirk for his part went a little slack as he realized that his words could in fact be true. While it never would have bothered him before, hell he would have enjoyed teasing her mercilessly about it, Jim was pained to realize that he did not feel happy about the prospect of her sleeping with someone else. He was sure it was because he was being overprotective, but while he was all for loyalty to his crew, he didn't exactly give a shit about their sex life or relationships.

He was tired, and she was the reason for it, that was all.

"You should ask her," Kirk tried casually, and Sulu laughed again, the laughter slowly dying as the man turned to look at Kirk who met his gaze with a disaffected one of his own.

"Wait, you're not serious," Sulu stressed incredulously, looking ridiculous with his expression and food in both hands.

Kirk shrugged dismissively as if he didn't particularly care. "C'mon Sulu, it's always fun to get dirt on people, and just think of how much fun it'd be if we could hold this over Chapel," his reasoning was pathetic, and judging from Sulu's unimpressed face, it was kind of obvious. "Just go," he nodded to the nurse before turning completely away, attempting to make it look like he just really wanted his coffee.

Sulu stood there for a few moments more, and Kirk heard the large sigh before Sulu went over to Christine, food in hand.

Trying to remain inconspicuous Jim peered over his shoulder to see Sulu sit down across from Christine, her big eyes brightening as she saw it was the helmsman, and Kirk felt his pants tighten. Muttering under his breath, he got his coffee as quickly as he could, careful not to look back up lest she make him combust or turn into a god damn fairy.

"_Seriously_" he groaned loudly, scaring the few people who were speeding past him in the hall, though he paid no mind. This never happened to him, ever. He had pretty much skipped the sexually awkward teenage years where women inspired out of control hormonal reactions just by saying hello. He'd skipped it because, and not to brag, he'd been suave with the ladies since 12 years old. This wasn't happening, especially not with a girl who he'd barely looked twice at the entire time they were on the ship.

"Captain,"

"_What_," he snapped, turning to see Spock looking at him curiously, the taller man arching his damn brow at him in what Kirk saw as a smug manner. "Sorry," Jim apologized, and took a much needed sip of his coffee, "woman problems," he shared, even though he knew Spock probably wished he wouldn't. "I'd ask you if you knew what I meant but you—' he stopped and cocked his head to the side, "huh, actually I guess you would know what I mean. What's up?"

Spock's mouth tightened considerably, but Kirk was too focused on his coffee to notice.

"I wish to inform you that the new cadets have arrived, and will be requiring authorized personnel to provide for them an instructional understanding of the ship's layout," Spock's hands were clasped behind his back as the two of them walked back towards the bridge, Kirk sipping his coffee.

"I thought that we already had a few people," Jim voiced, not really understanding why this required Spock to tell him.

"The unfortunate accident in the lower decks has prohibited our health personnel from doing as was requested."

"So what you're saying is that we need someone from the med bay,' Kirk nodded, "no problem, I was going to see Bones about it anyways, I can just tell him then. Right now I've got to clarify the meeting time with the Cappelans, have you received a transmission from them?"

Spock inclined his head, "It was received an hour ago. Yourself and-" he hesitated for only a second, and this time Kirk caught it, "Lieutenant Uhura will be expected at 1700 hours."

Furrowing his brow Jim stopped just before the elevator, motioning for Spock to do the same. "What was that?" he asked bluntly.

Spock tilted his head, impassive. "I'm afraid I do not know of what you are speaking, Captain, perhaps if you—"

"Nah, nah nah," Kirk finished off the last of the coffee, "you hesitated when you were telling me about the mining treaty." Kirk's eyes narrowed as he studied the Vulcan who appeared as rigid and formal as ever, except for a small amount of perspiration just by his eyebrow. "Hey," Kirk nodded, concerned, "you sick? Scotty said he got the leak fixed, but maybe you inhaled some or something."

"I am not unwell Captain," was all he said, almost stonily, and Kirk raised both eyebrows. "Your focus is needed on more important matters, I assure you my health is of no concern of yours," he rolled his shoulders back, staring unwavering at Kirk, who just shook his head, knowing it would do no good to continue.

"Very well Commander, I'll only be a few minutes with McCoy, hold ship until then," he nodded and just to make sure he annoyed the Vulcan, slapped him hard on the shoulder. Expecting some dry humour, Kirk instead only got a brusque head nod before Spock turned back around and made his way down the hall.

"Weird," Kirk commented to himself as he stepped into the lift, eyes still trained on Spock's back before the elevator doors slid shut.

* * *

If Kirk had known that 2 hours from the last time he saw Christine, who had used those big doe eyes against him in the cruellest way, that he would be bloody and looking like he'd lost a fight (which he had) he would have given her a resounding 'Fuck, no." He could have done it, he'd had a moment of weakness, as while the feelings of most women he's pretty indifferent to, his friends are an entirely different story. And she used those eyes against him. Damn her.

But as he tongued the cut on his lip, paying no mind as Chapel made the occasional humming noise deep in her throat as she flitted around him, repairing the wounds she'd invariably caused, Kirk couldn't muster the energy to even be slightly mad at her. It wasn't her fault, and she was right that he could have gone about this an entirely different way. He wouldn't have gotten any results, that he knew, and he didn't believe in no win scenarios. So, he toed the line, hell he'd jumped it all together, and while his face was mangled, judging from the way Spock led the Lieutenant away, he'd won.

And that made him smile in smug satisfaction—Ow.

"_Damnit_" he groaned, moving to press a hand to his lips to stop the stinging as he split his lip open wider, more blood dripping into his mouth. Christine beat him to it, and Kirk stared at her, eyebrow arched as she pressed her own cool fingers to his lip. Locked in a weird standoff Christine realized how forward she was and winced, moving her fingers and replacing them with a cold compress. "Sorry," she said not meeting his eyes, "you should just probably stop with the smug-laughing-at-your-supposed-genius-smiles until you can actually use your lips."

"Oh I can use them," Kirk said automatically, enjoying the glare she sent his way, "want to see?" he propositioned, setting his forearms on his knee as he leaned forward more to her level. She wasn't actually that small, average height, but just looked so…tiny.

"And risk getting a blood disorder from tonguing that cut?" she snorted, "no thank you."

He blinked at her for a moment, before letting out a surprised laugh, watching her with twinkling eyes as she studiously continued to ignore him. "I always forget that you're fiesty," he was thoroughly amused, which seemed to fluster her. "I wonder if your bite is as bad as your bark," the beginning of a smirk was starting on his face, "care to give me a demonst—" she cut him off by roughly turning his chin to the side, causing him to give a short grunt of pain.

"How's that?" she said sweetly, dabbing at the cut on his cheek bone, which had clotted nicely.

"Mmm," Kirk hummed, flexing his jaw, "not quite what I had in mind, but thank you."

Her grip on his chin got softer, until it felt like she was barely holding him, more like setting her fingers on the planes of his jaw as she worked at getting him cleaned up. His eyes were trailing down the slope of her nose when she suddenly frowned, staring at the cut just under his eye that would require some stitches.

"This isn't going to work," she said, eyes narrowed in thought, "here," she stepped back away from him, patting the back of the chair beside her. "Have a seat, as you already know I'm too short to get at your eye from here," she had her hand on his bicep as she grinned, he was sitting on a gurney in the small first aid room, and her line of vision met his throat in this case, not exactly ideal for doing stitches on his eye.

He tisked at her but slid off the bed and into the chair she had indicated.

"Open up your legs," she ordered as she put the thread through the needle, and Kirk 's eyebrows flew up to his hairline, his mouth hanging open slightly.

"Excuse me?" he half laughed, his thumb rubbing against the side of his eye. She slapped at his knee, ignoring his reaction, merely sighing as if he were the most difficult person she knew, which he probably was.

"Oh shut up Jim, I'm a professional and this is the best way to get to your eye," she watched his arched look, "and if you don't I'll have to lean over you to get to your eye, and that would give you a direct look down my uniform, so," she continued, not even slightly perturbed, "open."

Kirk shut his mouth, and made sure not to crack a joke about seeing down her shirt, which, begrudgingly his mind had cheered about like a frat boy bitch. He did notice that she was a bit more brusque with him than usual, as if something was bothering her. He'd thought they'd cleared the air in that turbolift, maybe he was wrong.

Doing as he was told, Kirk shifted back into his seat and opened his legs to give her room to step between his thighs, his hands remaining, despite the urge to lock on her hips, on his knees. She took another look at the needle before bracing herself against him, one hand gently resting on his forehead. And then she stopped, cursing slightly under her breath.

"I forgot to give you a shot to numb your nerves," she moved to step back to get a hypospray, but he stopped her, surprising both of them when his fingers dug into the curve of her hip.

"Forget it, I don't need them," he nodded as if giving her permission and she stepped back closer to him, shrugging her shoulders. As if feeling a dismissal he lifted his hand off of her, clenching it as it went back to his leg.

The first jab was the worst part and Christine uttered a soothing apology when he grimaced, which actually pulled at the thread.

The room filled with silence as she worked, and Jim did his best to hold back the pathetic groans as she stabbed and pulled at his skin repeatedly. Despite her efforts to make sure he didn't get a good look down her uniform, his eye level was directly on par with her chest, and from how close she was to him to get at the stitches, he was nearly pressed up against her. There was a large part of him that was entirely amused and delighted by this, and he did his best not to say a thing. And then there was that other part, smaller but more intense, like a darkness urging him to lean forward and place a kiss to her sternum, trail his lip lower and onto the soft curves of her breast.

Thank god she was causing him considerable amounts of pain, or he might have.

"Alright," she said, causing him to shift his gaze up to her, and she was smiling with satisfaction. "You're not quite so pretty as you were this morning, but it'll heal just fine," her hands went to her hips and Kirk found his eyes following her movements, mouth quirking to the side as he recognized it as one of her ticks; her hands were _always_ going to her hips.

"Aww you think I'm pretty?" he teased, managing to swallow the conflict he was feeling and gave her a quick eyebrow raised, which she chuckled at, beginning to put her things away.

"Not right now I don't," she yawned into her hand and pressed fingers gingerly at her temple where Kirk could in fact see a blood vessel pumping. He hadn't been glib when he told her he could see it in the lift. "Boy do I need sleep," she continued conversationally, waiting for him to rise so that they could both leave, "did you know that I got paged at three in the morning today because one of the officers accidentally locked the medicine cabinet and they were too scared to call McCoy?" She rolled her eyes, "4 hours of sleep because no one has a spine."

Kirk lifted a shoulder as if to shrug and pressed a hand to the stitches lining the one side of his nose. "I'm not entirely sure that Bones wouldn't have eaten them or something," he drawled, sniffing to test if his nose had stopped bleeding profusely down the back of his throat. It had.

"That's funny, that's pretty much what Sulu said this morning as well," she observed and then narrowed her eyes at him, the hand going to the hip, and Kirk knew he was in trouble. "That's the second time you and Sulu have shared a brainwave," she pointed out, "something to tell me Captain?"

Kirk felt his muscles go rigid at the prospect of her finding out that he'd pretty much ordered his helmsman to ask about her sex life of all things. Keeping his face impassive but interested Jim shrugged, "only that Sulu has a crush on me."

"Does he," she repeated shortly, not believing him at all.

"Mmm," Kirk nodded, licking his lip again, unthinkingly and nodded towards the door. "So I've got a meeting with Pike, we finished up here?"

Christine bit into her lip and shook her head, holding up a hand to prevent him from leaving. "Captain," she started, suddenly unsure, but she met his eyes with conviction. "This will sound…assuming but, did you ask Sulu to ask me if I've been 'getting any'?"

If anyone else had been here they probably would have burst into incredulous laughter, the question seemed ludicrous, but not entirely out of the Captain's element. Kirk's greatest failing was that he was a bit too emotional, he could lie, sure, and suavely too, but he hesitated for just a moment, didn't respond as calmly as he usually did, and it gave him away.

"You did didn't you" Christine's brow was furrowed, her hands moving up to hug her arms to her chest. "Why?"

Well explaining it to her was a scary thought, it would involve sharing his morning fantasy, and that wasn't going to happen. Unless she wanted to re-enact that, well then he'd sacrifice their friendship for that. Kirk was nothing if not a quick study so he didn't hesitate at all before smoothly replying, smirk on his face.

"Chapel, if you've got a secret sex life then that's too much material to ignore," his tone of voice was amused, and it seemed to convince her because he saw her face relax, though her arms still stayed where they were.

"So it was to possibly humiliate me with?" she asked, not entirely impressed, and Kirk thought he saw disappointment in her eyes. "Nice" she finally rolled her eyes, and let her arms drop, "you are such a guy."

Relieved Kirk chuckled beside her as the door opened and the two stepped out into the hallway. "Thank you," he patted her on the shoulder, bringing her closer against his chest, which she made a noise of protest about. "Should you ever feel the urge to start having a sex life, I'd be willing to help you out with that," he added, and laughingly grunted when she typically elbowed him in the side.

"Not likely," she imitated his smooth drawl before pushing at his shoulder, "go have your boy playtime with the Admiral, I've got to get back to the Infirmary." She brought a hand back to her forehead, and Kirk opened his mouth to suggest she take a break but he was left with no room to reply as she swiftly turned on her heel, artfully darting through the crowd to get back to her station.

This left Kirk with a hand on his side, and a grim look on his face. Grim because for all his relief at her not finding out, he was feeling more conflicted about it every passing second. This was not good. He needed to find a leggy cadet and _do_ her, then he'd feel better.

No blondes.

* * *

"You've got to ease up kid," Pike mused, shaking his head at Kirk who just shifted further back into his captain's chair, flexing his hands as if to say 'so what?' "I can tell you picking fights with your First Officers is not going to show up well on your 6 month evaluations," Pike gave the younger man a daring look as if to ask him to challenge that.

"I think it'll show my ingenuity," Jim defended, cheshire smile.

"You may get things done, but there's always a mess to clean up afterwards," Pike pointed out, bemused, but growing tired of Kirk's blasé attitude. "Do me a favour and stop trying to defend yourself, the next time this happens," as if he knew that it would, "You'll be penalized, maybe even suspended. Got it?"

"Yes sir," Kirk managed, jaw flexing. The bridge was empty save for Kirk and the Admiral on the vid screen. He hadn't actually seen anyone except for Chekov who had set up the call for him over an hour ago, Uhura and Spock hadn't returned from wherever they had gone off to. Kirk didn't really want to know what they were doing.

"You prepared for the mission?" Pike asked, and Kirk tightened his mouth, thinking to what he and Uhura had agreed on.

"I think so, there's only so much you can prepare for. I spoke with the Capellan Teer ambassador and they seem more enthusiastic than reluctant. It should go smoothly," Kirk clapped his hands together, feeling pretty good with the whole situation.

"Good to hear," Pike returned the smile, "just make sure you're prepared for all possible outcomes. There's always some martyr wannabe who isn't so enthused about a peace treaty, especially when its with us. You should think about sending a security team with you."

Kirk made a face and used his leg muscles to push his body more forward in the chair, his forearms on the arm rests. "I'll consider it Admiral," he said, mostly out of formality, " I don't see this as being a problem but-" he held up his hand as the Admiral moved to protest, "you're right. Something _could_ go wrong. I'll talk to my Head of Security, sir."

Pike seemed satisfied, and nodded. In the back of Jim's mind he was reminded of what a father figure probably should be, sure he'd had a step-father growing up, but in terms of guidance, hell the only reason he was even Captain of this ship was mostly due to the man in front of him. What Jim found almost awing was the fact that Pike actually trusted him to make the right decisions, offering suggestions or guidance when Jim was out of line, but other than that, he put his faith in him. That was something Jim would do his damndest not to lose.

"I'll wish you luck Captain," the Admiral inclined his head, smiling, "I look forward to reading your report after your successful return."

"Thank you sir," Jim grinned back, saluting.

"Oh and Kirk," Pike stopped giving the younger man a knowing look, "stop bleeding all over my ship."

Kirk smirked, canting his head to the side, "It's my ship now Admiral." Both men shared a closed mouth grin before the Admiral said a final goodbye and Kirk was left alone in the room...for a moment.

"_Are you out of your mind_?" exploded Bones' voice by the turbolift, and Kirk was mildly startled out of his thoughts, abandoning looking out over the stars to pay attention to his best friend. A best friend who was looking mildly irritated and brandishing what looked like a syringe.

"Depends," Kirk started slowly, eyeing the instrument in Bones' hand, "what are we talking about?"

"Oh I dunno Jim," Bones started with sarcastic loftiness, "a Vulcan and a Dumbass walk into a bar…" he trailed off, now in front of the Captain. "I snuck you onto this damn ship! I can't get a proper thank you from a corpse now can I? Hold still," he grabbed onto Kirk's skull without any finesse, wrenching it slightly so that he could take a look at Christine's stitch job.

"Ow!" Jim protested, his hands coming up to push the Doctor away. "Bones, Bones cut it out," he sucked in a breath as Bones prodded at the bruising, the good doctor not at all paying attention to whatever Jim was saying. "Argh," Jim shoved Bones away forcefully when Bones snapped on his pen light, shining it into Kirk's pupils.

"I said stop it," Kirk glared at the other man, clenching his jaw, "I'm fine. Chapel patched me up. It's fine," he licked his lip and watched as Bones' expression grew darker if at all possible.

"You're lucky that hobgoblin didn't turn you into a pancake," he scoffed, "what were you thinking?"

Kirk wasn't exactly following why this was so bad so he merely crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled. "I've already got a mother Bones," he winked and made to brush past him, he had less than a few hours to prepare for the mining treaty and he needed to find Uhura.

"Damnit Jim," Bones persisted, preventing Kirk from getting too far by grabbing him by the shoulder. "You have no idea what you did," he looked exasperated, and to be honest Jim was feeling the same way.

"No I don't, so either tell me or quit hovering," he threw up his hands and gave Bones an appraising look which the Doctor shifted uncomfortably at.

Bones grumbled something about doctor-patient confidentiality before he heaved a sigh. "Fine, I don't owe him anything anyways. Look," he flashed his eyes back to the Captain who had an eyebrow arched in impatience. "Commander Spock isn't exactly well, and it's in the best interest of everyone's very lives and my sanity if you steer clear of him."

Kirk blinked.

"That's all you're going to tell me?" he said after a few moments where Bones did his best to look everywhere but at him. "You're saying Spock is dangerous?" Kirk screwed up his face in disbelief and let out a slight laugh.

Bones' face reddened and he rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's my medical opinion, Captain, because is going through Pon Farr and since there's no Vulcan to go home to, he's practically a ticking time bomb."

Kirk narrowed his eyes, not comprehending. "Uh huh."

"Jesus man!" Bones exclaimed, "did you not pay attention in—oh for the love of—" he made a stopping motion with his hands. "When a Vulcan becomes an adult," Bones simpered as if he were speaking to a child, " he or she go through Pon Farr approximately every 7 years. It's-" Bones looked disgruntled and it was probably in imagining Spock going through it, "it's the Vulcan time of mating. Due to a neurochemical imbalance that drives them mad, if they don't mate they die." Bones cleared his throat as he took in Kirk's wide eyed stare. "You can try to intense meditation, fighting to the death over a mate, actually doing the deed, or get it supervised medically. Commander Spock has chosen the last option, no doubt to piss me off. So there you have it."

There was a long silence for a moment.

"So by severely pissing him off, I could have in fact died," Kirk observed, almost in interest and Bones nodded.

"Yep," he offered with a sarcastic smile.

Kirk thought for a moment, the fact that Spock had nearly punched him out all because of a remark about Uhura was a little suspect. Of course he knew Spock would be upset, but a very angry conversation was what he had been expecting, not a near death experience. And despite this, Kirk's thoughts immediately went to one thing, the woman in question who Spock had led away from the scene almost a full two hours before.

"Bones," Kirk said, worry evident in his tone. "Just how dangerous do you think the Commander is right now without treatment?"

Bones shrugged. "He's half-human and so is already more intuned with his emotions than the regular Vulcan. It's only his first day of Pon Farr though, so I'd say that if the right buttons were pushed—hey you okay?" Bones' brow creased in concern as he watched Kirk's face pale slightly, and a hardness settle in his jaw. "Sit down, I've got a hypospray" Bones, grasped his friend's shoulder gently, but it was brushed away.

"Spock and Uhura are alone together," Kirk voiced evenly, and both men stared at one another. By the 5th second they were both racing to the turbolift.

"Computer, find Lieutenant Uhura and Commander Spock," Jim bellowed sliding into the lift after Bones who already had his fingers ready to press whatever button they needed.

"And Nurse Chapel," Bones added, ignoring Kirk's side glance. "If we need to sedate him we'll be needing help with someone who knows a thing or two," Bones explained brusquely, and Kirk merely turned his attention back foreword.

"Lieutenant Uhura, Commander Spock and Head Nurse Chapel are located on 3rd deck room 7."

"All of them? I just left Chapel in the infirmary" Bones voiced in confusion, turning to see Jim clench his eyes tightly.

"She must have gone to see Uhura," Kirk worked his jaw hard, saying nothing more as the lift descended quickly. His heart was hammering at this point, while he didn't actually think Spock would have gone off the deep end, as the man was honest about his failings and would have told Kirk that he wasn't able to be around others, he couldn't help but feel afraid. First for Uhura, and now for Christine.

When the lift opened again it took only seconds for Kirk to recognize the taller figure of Spock and the smaller slighter figure of Christine not 10 feet away, Christine's hand was grabbing at Spock's forearm, neither noticed the appearance of the two other men.

It took even less for Kirk to lunge forward, eyes dark.

"Step away from her Spock," Kirk ordered icily, ignoring the surprised look from Christine who had spun around at the sound of his voice.

"Captain?" Spock said in question, arching his eyebrow as he always did, and Kirk clenched his fist tighter.

"Jim?" Christine almost echoed, trading looks with Bones who moved forward swiftly to grab her wrist and bring her to him. "Hey, what—" the blond protested in indignation, struggling to free herself from the Doctor who was struggling to keep her still.

'Settle down girl," he grunted, "can never keep yourself out of trouble can you?"

"Trouble? Let go of me, how dare you," she gritted her teeth, and Jim heard Bones curse swiftly under his breath, clearly favouring one leg after she stomped so harshly on his left foot.

"Zip it Chapel," Kirk snapped, eyes still on the Vulcan in front of him who didn't look even mildly surprised at their presence.

"I presume you are here to seek the health of Lieutenant Uhura," Spock said calmly, and Kirk thought he heard a bit of amusement behind his first officer's casual tone. Come to think of it, Kirk thought, frowning slightly as he took in the Vulcan's appearance, Spock didn't look dangerous. He definitely didn't look sick, and almost as if Bones was thinking the same thing, both men shared a brief look with each other before Kirk returned his attention back to Spock.

"Where is she," Kirk asked flatly.

"Lieutenant Uhura is resting," Spock replied easily, though Kirk noticed a flash of some resignation behind Spock's eyes.

"Oh ya?" Kirk echoed, keeping his eyes on Spock but moving towards the door. "Can you give me your word on that Commander?" he stressed sarcastically, and ignored the angry huff from Christine who managed to wrench her arm out of her Boss' grasp.

"Uhura is fine Captain," Christine interjected, coming just beside Spock, a look of irritation on her features. "What is this, why are you questioning the Commander? You were practically giving him your blessing an hour ago, he's done nothing wrong," she stressed, gesturing to Uhura's door as if Uhura was actually there. "I saw her only a minute ago," she added, staring the man who she'd stitched up only a half hour before.

Kirk licked his lips, his shoulders still tense, mostly from confusion at the situation, and confusion as to why Spock wasn't some rabid beast at the present moment. It was slowly becoming a very bad day for the Captain who was swiftly getting a headache.

He was about to open his mouth when Uhura's door slid open to reveal the woman in question, her expression irritated, and her eyes slightly red from tears.

"Is there a reason why you're all arguing outside of my door?" she asked to no one in particular, and Kirk noticed that she studiously ignored Spock's gaze before landing on his own. "Captain?" she said with an acid tone, and crossed her arms over her chest, long dark hair spilling over her shoulder as she cocked her head to the side.

"Uh," Kirk started dumbly, looking back to Bones who merely shrugged his shoulders, having not the slightest idea what was going on either. "Are you okay?" he hazarded instead of the truth, and was rewarded with a narrowing of eyes as Uhura tightened her grip on her arms. Oh boy.

"If you ask me that one more time, I swear to God," she growled halting her threat and instead switching to another language, with harsh syllables that seemed to match the expression on her face.

Kirk caught the corner of Spock's mouth twisting upwards for only a moment before it was gone, the other man looking away again, arms clasped behind his back.

Risking a look to Chapel and Bones, he was at least gratified to see that they also had no idea what she'd just said, and were looking at her uneasily. Well Bones had pretty much forgone caring at this point, and was looking mostly unsurprised and desperately in need of a drink.

"Right," Kirk replied back to Uhura and thought it wise to merely smile back boyishly, clapping his hands together. "Well, just thought I'd check, I guess I'll see you in an hour Lieutenant," he said pleasantly, and held back a whistle at the withering look she gave him before turning on her heel and disappearing into her room, sparing only a small glance at Spock before she did.

Kirk cleared his throat to fill the silence, reaching over to clasp Bones on the back. "Well that wasn't weird at all," he voiced, earning a small, albeit confused smile from Christine.

"Captain," interrupted Spock, a serious expression on his face. "I believe that you and I must converse, perhaps I can ease your apparent confusion," it was said without much room for argument so Kirk nodded, looking over at Bones.

"You bet your ass we do," he rubbed at his forehead. "Bones," he nodded to the man who was merely shaking his head, "Chapel," he almost purred, and grinned when she flushed slightly, obviously still a little at odds with what just had happened. Satisfied Kirk began to follow Spock down the hall, leaving the other two behind.

"What was that?" Kirk heard Christine asked Bones, her voice sounding a little dazed.

"Do you actually want to know?" Bones responded, scoffing, "the answer to that is 'no' Chapel. You never want to know," he finished almost bitterly. "By the way, you're taking another shift for trying to impale me with your damn shoe," he said gruffly and Christine's snort of laughter drifted down the corridor.

Kirk turned his attention back to the Vulcan who was staring back at him expectantly, studying the wounds he'd left earlier that morning. "Do you want to sign it?" Kirk asked dryly, and the Vulcan blinked, cocking his head to the side.

"I'm afraid I do not understand your phrasing," he admitted as both men began to start down the hall.

"You know," Kirk continued, "like how an artist signs his work of art" he made a motion of signing his name in cursive in the air.

"You believe that your abrasions are a work of art Captain?" Spock's mouth was pressed tightly together, but there was irony in his voice and Kirk rolled his eyes.

"Ya listen," he stopped the taller man as they approached a large alcove, a view of space spread out before them tantalizingly. "I'm sorry about this morning, I didn't mean a word I said," he gestured in apology, which the Vulcan merely gave a curt nod at.

"Yes Captain, I realized after your ruse had been revealed. I would apologize again for your injuries, but I cannot entirely say that they were not warranted," he said it so casually that it was Kirk who laughed and took a seat on a bench, not expecting the Vulcan to follow suit, and was proved right when the Vulcan remained standing, hands still held behind his back.

"I do feel that I should offer my apologies for the dangerous situation I put you in," he resumed speaking and Kirk watched him, "you are no doubt aware of my present condition," he seemed to hesitate, and it was the first time that Kirk noticed that Spock was in fact doing his damndest to control what appeared to be sudden violent urges. It was evident in the sudden appearance of sweat at his temple, and the slight jerk of his shoulder blades.

"I am," Kirk drawled, studying Spock intently. "And maybe its ignorance to," he made a gesturing motion, "Vulcan stuff, but when Bones told me…I can't say I really see what he's talking about."

Spock seemed to consider this and his mouth drew tight again. "My appearance may not currently reflect my condition, but unless I treat the situation, it soon will be," he said honestly and Kirk nodded slowly.

"I guess that's a great deal harder for you since there's no Vulcan," Kirk said more quietly, and Spock looked down a moment.

"Indeed, but there are other ways to remedy the situation. They are just more painful and…not the most efficient," he shared a look with Kirk.

"I feel that I should temporarily resign my position until I am performing most proficiently," Spock continued, and held up a hand before Kirk could protest. "It is for the benefit of the crew as well as myself that I propose this solution. Despite his…hesitance," Spock quirked a brow, " is more than fit to oversee my medical conditioning."

Kirk licked his lips and regarded the Vulcan for a moment before nodding. "Alright, if that's what you think," he conceded and the Vulcan bowed gratefully, Kirk noticed the similar tensing of his friend's shoulders as he did. "But listen, this thing with Uhura…" Kirk trailed off as he caught the resignation in Spock's eyes.

"It is best for the Lieutenant that she not be involved during my treatment, and under considerable thought, it is in the best interest of the ship that I not involve myself with another crew member," he looked Kirk dead in the eyes, seemingly trying to convince Kirk of this as much as himself.

"Spock," Kirk shook his head, "I don't doubt your abilities for a moment just because you and Uhura are together. I know that in a tough situation you will do the right thing. Both of you," Kirk stressed.

"A gracious notion Captain, I thank you, but I cannot express the same confidence," Spock said more strongly and shook his head. Kirk could tell in the line of his mouth, and the similar resignation he'd seen in Uhura's eyes, that there was no changing his mind. Kirk just wondered what kind of a price his First Office had paid for acting so altruistically.

"You still love her though," Kirk said, eyelids drowsy with his statement that both men knew was true.

Spock hesitated. "My feelings for Lieutenant Uhura are unchanged," he admitted softly. Spock looked away for a few moments, and if Kirk had been a wordsmith he would have penned it down as forlornly. But he wasn't, so Kirk merely waited patiently as Spock seemingly regained himself and nodded to the Captain.

"I understand that you do not hold the rules of Starfleet in such high regard as your own," it was a jibe that Kirk snorted at, "but the reasons behind such regulations against fraternization amongst crew members, are sound ones"

Kirk watched him curiously as Spock seemed to be hinting at something else. A hot flash of panic that Spock might know about Kirk's dreams about Christine erupted behind his temple and Kirk swallowed, testing the waters so to speak as he laughed half heartedly. "Ah but there's a wealth of women on this ship, just waiting to be fraternized with," he joked, and Spock arched both brows, his stare knowing.

"Perhaps it is best to resist Captain," he said simply, and Kirk turned his chin, considering his first mate.

"Maybe you're right," Kirk said finally and stood from his sitting position, clearing his throat, his wish to change the subject. "You going to see Bones then?"

Spock nodded, "affirmative. My treatment will not be a long one, I'm sure you will function admirably without me."

Kirk gave a small chuckle, "can't say it'll be as much fun but," he sighed, "I'll try to save the most death defying stunts for when you're back on your feet."

"How considerate of you," Spock replied in deadpan, thought to his credit didn't tense when Kirk slapped him on the shoulder. Whether Spock liked it or not he and Kirk were swiftly becoming close friends.

As both men started back for the turbolift, Kirk couldn't help but be curious about Pon Farr. 'So," he said after a few moments of companionable silence, "if I can surmise the basis of this. If you don't have wild sex before a certain time, you die."

If Spock was a proponent of human gestures he would have rolled his eyes. "I feel that you are not grasping the entirety of the process," he said, stepping into the lift after his Captain who had his bright blue eyes pinned of his first Officer.

"But medical crap aside, you don't have sex you die," Kirk persisted.

"Meditation also offers a form of release from—" he was interrupted by Kirk was looking at him incredulously.

"So you'd choose meditation over sex. Even when this Pony Fair thing gives you the ultimate free pass to sex."

Spock paused for a moment to rethink his statement. "If I do not engage in sexual intercourse I could perish," he conceded and chose to stare ahead at the lift door.

Another silence filled the space.

"You lucky bastard," Kirk finally said under his breath, and though Kirk couldn't see it, Spock's lips twisted into a slight small smile.

* * *

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